Once Upon A Sinner
by laughaholic22796
Summary: Based on the Sinners on tour series by Olivia Cunning. Between darkness and desire. Need and oblivion. Pain and pleasure. A woman as talented as Sinners bass guitarist Emma Swan needs a woman who can beat out her self doubt. A woman as strong as the Evil Queen needs a woman she can't always overpower. And in each other's tight embrace, an escape from harsh reality is always welcome
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Within seconds of meeting a woman, Regina could assign her to one of two lists.

List A: Women Not Worth My Time.

List B: Women I'd Like to Fuck.

List A grew every hour she worked at the nightclub, The Enchanted Forest. She couldn't remember the last time a woman had landed herself on List B.

That might explain why Regina dropped her bullwhip when _she_ caught her attention. Whoever she was. Potential List B strode across the floor as if she owned the place. She had that stereotypical bad girl look—leather, tattoos, and a giant chip on her shoulder—which was contradicted by the sweetest face she'd ever seen. When she took a seat at the table closest to her stage, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs at the ankle, as if she planned to stay for a while.

Interesting. And entirely fuckable.

Sipping her beverage, Angel Face gazed up at her with an odd gleam of challenge in her green eyes. Something about her had Regina instantly thinking naughty thoughts. Only half of them involved inflicting pain on her tight body. Oh, the girl was a looker, no denying that, but that wasn't her main appeal. Strange thing was Regina didn't know what set her apart from the other nightclub patrons. Perhaps she needed a new list just for him.

Temporary List C: Women I Can't Instantly Label. Regina had no doubt that this list's only assignee would quickly land herself on List A. In no way would she ever consider a customer List B potential. It didn't matter how attractive she was.

Regina retrieved her bullwhip from the stage floor (how embarrassing) and cracked it next to Hottie's cheek. She didn't flinch. Her body tensed, but not with fear. From the slight gasp she emitted and the flutter of her lashes, Regina could tell her threat turned the other woman on.

Most men and even some women liked to watch Regina's routine from the shadows and think they could take her abuse. Trying to show their toughness, they chose the dominatrix in leather to entertain them at The Enchanted Forest, but few sat within striking distance of her bullwhip. Not that she'd actually hit anyone at the club. If someone wanted her to punish them for being naughty, they had to pay extra.

Regina drew her arm back and lashed her whip at the new arrival's cheek again. The leather snapped centimeters from the other woman's skin. Regina was satisfied when she didn't flinch this time either. Oh Lord, she'd be fun to break. It had been forever since she'd had a real challenge in her dungeon.

The other woman stared directly into Regina's eyes as she danced closer. She looked quite young—mid twenties, maybe—but she had eyes wise beyond her years. Regina would bet she'd seen a lot of tragedy in her life. Many of those who sought her for release had.

The young woman beckoned her closer with a crooked finger. Surprised, Regina arched a brow at her and glanced at Smee, the bouncer who stood near the stage. She wasn't supposed to discuss her side business at the club. As far as her coworkers were concerned, Regina's dominatrix routine was entirely an act. Later, when she moved to the floor to interact with customers on a more personal basis, she would slip her card to potential slaves, but her stage set wasn't over yet. She needed to concentrate on her dancing and not daydream about making some tough-looking ubercutie her bitch.

Regina hooked her leg around a silver pole and twirled around it, her long, black hair flying out behind her. When she stopped, she found the girl had vacated her chair and was standing against the stage at her feet. The girl pulled a bill from her back pocket and held it out to Regina between two fingers. _Hello, C-note. Mama needs a new pair of boots._

Holding onto the pole with one hand, Regina leaned toward the customer, offering the tops of her full breasts to her view.

The other woman's gaze shifted to Regina's bare skin, and she drew her tongue over her upper lip. Usually, one customer looked as mundane as another to her, but Regina took in every inch of this one, from her heavy black boots to her curled blond hair. Light hair. Light eyes. Light creamy skin. The hint of a tattoo revealed itself above the neckline of her T-shirt. A studded leather band adorned her right wrist. She looked hard and tough, yet saccharine and sweet at the same time. A hell's angel, heavy on the angel.

She slid the bill between Regina's breasts and into the bodice of her black leather bustier. As the girl's fingertips brushed her skin, her nipples tightened. Totally unusual reaction for her. Customers typically gave her the heebie-jeebies when they touched her. This one had all her systems set to go. The small silver hoops in the other woman's earlobes caught a strobe light. Regina gnawed on her tongue, wanting to nibble on her ear instead. She did have a thing for ears.

_Um, wrong answer, Regina. _Customers were never fair game for action in the sack.

"Do you do private dances?", the girls asked, her bottle green eyes locked with Regina's chocolate brown. Her voice was lighter than Regina had expected and so quiet, she wouldn't have heard the girl over the throbbing club music if she hadn't been leaning so close.

"You mean like a lap dance?"

"If that's what you do. How much?"

"Fifty bucks."

She handed Regina another hundred. The girl must have had a good day at the casino. She didn't look rich. She wore a plain white T-shirt, worn red leather jacket, and snug blue jeans, which clung to her pert ass. Regina was starting to think her next dance should be the horizontal mamba.

_Regina, pull yourself together, woman._ _She's a customer. No can do. _Oh, but she so wanted to. Do. Her.

The other woman's gaze lowered tot he floor, and she flushed. "Do you offer _other_ services?"

_Whoa, sweetie. Brakes engaged. _"I'm not a prostitute, if that's what you're asking."

The blonde shook her head. "That;s not what I meant. I want you to hurt me." She drew a deep, shuddering breath into her expanding chest. "Hard-core."

_Oh yeah. Can do, sugar._

Regina glanced over at the bouncer again to make sure he wasn't watching her side transaction. Smee's attention was on the far stage, where The Enchanted Forest's newest dancer, Tina, a.k.a. Tinkerbell, was dancing in her green wings and plastic wand. Men were mesmerized by her. Even though Tina had a fantastic body and knew how to move it, she simply didn't have the right mind-set to be an exotic dancer. None of the drooling men who surrounded Tinkerbell's stage with slightly bulging eyes and excessively bulging flies would agree with Regina's opinion. All they saw was her beautiful outer package—not the severely broken heart within. Regina saw it though. She'd recognized it the instant she'd met Tina and helped her land this job. Poor lamb. So confused and conflicted.

Regina returned her attention to the woman at her feet. "I do indulge for a price," Regina told her, "but no sex."

"I don't need sex."

Regina nodded. The girl wasn't new to this. Which mad her so much more fun than Regina's usual victims. She had a few regulars who visited her dungeon, but most of her customers were guys visiting Vegas who wanted to explore their darker sides for a night. She never saw most of them again, which suited her just fine. Many dommes preferred regulars, but Regina would rather turn over a quick buck and avoid growing fond of one her submissives.

Her current interest's body held tension in every line. When the other woman glanced up at her, the deep emotional pain in her gaze made Regina's belly quiver. _Yeah, Blondie, you're exactly_ _the challenge I need right now. "_I can work you over, angel, but not here. I'll slip you my card later, and you can call me. If you're lucky, I'll show you my dungeon."

The girl shuddered, her breath coming out in an excited gasp.

Maybe Regina should take him backstage and give her a taste of what she had to offer. The other woman looked ready to explode with the strain of containing her pain. She needed the release Regina could give her. And Regina needed to see her grovel at her boots so she could dismiss her as not worth her time. The sooner she joined the thousands of women on List A, the better.

Regina dropped down on her knees on the stage to continue dancing as she talked to the other woman. "When do you need this?"

"As soon as possible."

"I think I have an opening in a few days."

"Tonight. I've got money. Name your price."

_Name your price?_ She was definitely speaking Regina's language, but making her wait would do half Regina's work for her. She ran her blood red,pointed nails down the side of the girl's neck, leaving light scratches in their wake. "I'll check my calendar and see if I can squeeze you in. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day."

Regina was eager to raise welts on the blonde's flesh and hear her cry out in pain. Wanted the ultimate prize the girl would gift her: begging her for mercy, begging her to stop. That sweet instant she gave all of her power and Regina _owned her. _That's what she wanted. What she needed to keep herself elevated from that deep, dark pit she'd once resided in. But it was too soon to indulge the blonde. She'd attain greater fulfillment if Regina put her off a few days. Let the anticipation settle into her body and her thoughts until she could think of nothing but the delicious agony Regina promised.

A commotion on the other side of the room drew Regina's attention. Smee, Regina's bouncer, darted toward Tinkerbell's stage. Some big, good looking customer had captured Tina in his arms. She was wrapped in a leather jacket with her arms trapped helplessly. Several bouncers were trying to secure her release. Several others were escorting some short, brunette woman out of the club. Another guy standing next to Tina's captor shook his head in disgrace. All three customers had a similar look to them. Like they were in some rock band or something. Come to think of it, the cute chick at the end of her stage had a similar appearance. A matching set. Regina looked down to find her potential good time had vanished

"Motherfuckers!", her blond angel yelled as she launched herself onto the back of one of the bouncers.

SQ—SQ-SQ-SQ-SQ-SQ-SQ

When Emma saw that a bouncer was dragging Sinner's drummer, Lacey, toward the exit, she didn't think, she just acted. All thoughts of the beautiful, black-haired dominatrix and what glorious things she could do to her body fled Emma's mind.

Emma raced across the club, hurdled a chair, and landed on the bouncer's back. She knew she wasn't big enough to take him down, but Emma could fight. If things had turned out differently, she might have become a professional boxer, instead of the bass guitarist for a rock band.

She didn't mind an occasional brawl—she was good at fighting and knew how to knock a man out in one punch—but Emma wasn't even sure why they were engaging with a bunch of bouncers at August's bachelor party. They were supposed to be celebrating, not stirring up shit. Lacey had better have a good reason for making eight club bouncers pissed enough to hit anything that moved. As the fight moved to the sidewalk outside the club, it escalated. Emma took out a couple of guys with one punch, before pausing to assess the situation.

Short and quick. Lacey was putting up a fine fight, but was outnumbered four to one. Surrounded on all sides with no way out, Lacey unexpectedly pointed to the sky. "Look, the flying Elvises!"

All four bouncers stared up at the dark sky like turkeys in a hailstorm. When their attention turned skyward, Lacey crashed into one of the bouncers at waist level, trying to escape the circle of muscle, but as soon as they realized there were no parachuting icons to entertain them, all four bouncers pounded Lacey in rapid succession.

Emma decided to even the odds. Two uppercuts and a couple dozen jabs later, two more bouncers lay on the sidewalk: one out cold, the other attempting to rise, but failing to regain his equilibrium.

Lacey wiped the blood out of her eye, her surprised gaze shifting from the human debris at her feet to Emma. "Jesus, princess, you're a one-woman wrecking crew."

Distracted by Lacey's compliment, Emma found an unexpected fist against her jaw. Pain radiated up the side of her face. Her ears rang. Vision blurred. The pain she didn't mind, but the jar to her senses left her unbalanced. She took another hit to the jaw before she could focus well enough to knock her adversary out with one hard punch under the chin.

Breathing hard, Emma spun and saw some guy whack Sinners' rhythm guitarist, Neal, in the back of the head with an aluminum bat. Neal hadn't even been in the club when the fight broke out. Why had he been targeted? "Fuckin' queer," the bouncer growled.

Neal dropped to the sidewalk, instantly unconscious. Lacey went after the fucktard with the bat, yanking the weapon out of his hands, and tossing it into the road beyond the sidewalk.

"No one." Lacey punched to guy in the face. "Calls him." Hit him again. "A queer." And again. "Ever." Lacey continued to pummel the guy until he stopped getting up.

Their lead guitarist, August (when in the hell had he joined the fray?), had a one-on-one fight going with the last bouncer standing. The two of them went back and forth with blows down the sidewalk. August took a hard fist to the nose, which pissed him off enough to take the guy down with a couple quick punches.

Emma took a deep breath. Glad it was over. Now maybe she could finish her whiskey and make that appointment with that hot-as-blue-flames dominatrix. Sinners' vocalist, Killian, burst out of the club. Apparently, he'd gotten tired of the stripper he'd captured off the stage and was ready to fight. They could have used him earlier. Killian was huge. A bodybuilder who would have made a good bouncer had he not been gifted with a voice from the heavens. Killian glanced around, looking for someone to hit, but every bouncer was already down.

Unfortunately, so was Neal.

Killian crossed the sidewalk in two strides and bent over Neal. Killian took him by both shoulders, and gave him a gentle shake. Out cold, Neal's head lolled loosely. "Neal? Neal! Neal, open your eyes." Killian glanced at Lacey. "What the fuck happened to him?"

"That douche bag whacked him in the back of the head with a ball bat." Said douche bag was groaning in the middle of the sidewalk. Lacey had made a mess of the guy's face.

"What the fuck?"Killian eased Neal down to the sidewalk, dropped to his knees, and put his ear to Neal's chest. "His heart's still beating. He's breathing."

"Well, duh. You didn't think he was dead, did you? He isn't even bleeding."

August staggered his way back up the sidewalk to join them. He massaged the knuckles of his right hand, his dark brown brows drawn together in an angry scowl. "Damn it, Lacey, why do you always have to start shit?"

"It was Killian's fault. He's the one who grabbed Tina off the stage."

Emma's gaze swiveled toward Killian in astonishment. _Tina?_ Killian's fiancee who'd dumped him almost two years ago? Small world. Emma hadn't recognized her without clothes.

"Who cares who started it? It's over," Killian said. "Let's get the fuck out of here before the cops show up. I doubt Ruby will want to bail August out of jail on their wedding day, and then there's the concert tomorrow. Kind of can't miss it."

They probably should have thought of that before they messed up their hands, faces, and bodies in a brawl that seemed pointless now that it ended. While a world record contender for the Shortest Bachelor Party Ever, August's last night as a single man had definitely been one to remember.

Emma glanced at the club's door and released a frustrated sigh. She hadn't gotten that lady-wood inducing dominatrix's card, and she so needed to see the dark haired woman in private. Fighting tended to release some of her tension—that's why she continued to box for recreation, even though he had a better gig in a rock band now—but getting in a bar fight didn't sooth her soul's turmoil. Not in the same way being whipped to the limits of her tolerance by a woman in spiked heels and black leather would.

Killian scooped Neal off the sidewalk, tossed him over one broad shoulder, and headed to the red '57 Thunderbird parked at the curb. The sound of sirens grew increasingly loud.

Emma, let's go!" Lacey shouted.

After one last look of longing at the club's swinging doors, Emma climbed on her Harley, waited for Lacey to settle down behind him, and then followed the car back to their tour bus behind the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Surely someone would report their vehicles. There were plenty of witnesses to the fight. Every member of her band was probably screwed. Busted. In huge trouble. Their manager Aiden, had told them if any of them were arrested again, not to bother calling him. He refused to bail them out. He also threatened their stage crew with immediate termination should they lend their aid. Aiden didn't make idle threats.

When Emma pulled to a stop behind the tour bus, Neal stumbled out of Ruby's car and leaned against the fender. At least he was conscious now. Emma rocked the bike back on its kickstand, shut off the engine, and went to check on Neal.

"You all right, man?"Emma asked.

None of his band mates were Emma would consider tan, but Neal looked downright ghostly. "Yeah. Just a little dizzy." Neal pressed on his temples with both hands. "Fuck, my head hurts."

August leaned out the driver's window. "Get back in the car, Neal, and we'll take you to the hospital."

"Fuck that. You know how I hate hospitals. Why do you think I never followed in my father's footsteps?"

"Because you're too dumb to be a doctor," August said, "Now get back in the car."

Killian unfolded his six-foot-four frame from the little car. "Listen to August, Neal. Get back in the car." He grabbed Neal by the shoulders and tried to force him.

Neal pulled out of his grasp. "Lacey's bleeding all over the fuckin' place, and you aren't threatening to take her to the hospital."

Killian shrugged. "Whatever. It;s just Lacey."

"Thank you very fucking much for your concern, Killian," Lacey said. "Really. Appreciate it." From the gash on the side of her head, blood continued to drip down Lacey's face and onto her black T-shirt.

"Do you need stitches?" Emma asked.

Lacey's brows drew together. "Do you?"

Emma shook her head. "I'm not bleeding anywhere."

"And why is that, princess?"

Emma shrugged, shifting her gaze to the ground to prevent Lacey from recognizing that she'd managed to push her buttons. Again. She just couldn't win with Lacey. Ever. And Emma respected her too much to knock her on her ass. Emma took a deep breath and released it slowly as she stared at the ground. She took a a lot of shit from Lacey, but if that's what she had to do to stay in this band, she'd continue to take it. Nothing else on this whole fucking planet meant more to her than these four brilliant musicians.

Killian, give me your sunglasses," August said, now standing in their little huddle and waving a hand at Killian.

"What the fuck do you need sunglasses for? It's almost midnight."

"Just hand them over."

Killian retrieved his shades from his jacket pocket, handed them to August, and then took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going in, Ruby is going to kill me for letting August get his ass kicked the night before their wedding."

"I didn't get my ass kicked."

"You've looked better, my friend. Trust me on that."

Killian headed up the tour bus steps, followed by Lacey.

"Yous sure you're okay, Neal?" Emma asked.

"Yeah. I just need some ice." Neal fingered the back of his head and winced. He followed Lacey up the steps, only veering slightly to the left.

"You go next,' August insisted of Emma.

Emma grinned at him. "Afraid of Ruby?"

"Hell, yeah, I'm afraid of Ruby. I hate arguing with her. She always wins. And she has every reason to be pissed at me. Who wants to stand at the altar with a guy who has two black eyes?"

Emma's grin widened, and the warmth of embarrassment spread across her face. "Ruby does. She loves you."

August took a deep breath. "I hope you're right. God, I can't get that ring on her finger fast enough. Okay, Emma, go. Killian's probably broken the news to her by now. I need multiple obstacles in her path, and I don't think she'd actually hit you. She thinks you're the sweet one." August almost choked on his laugh.

Emma had never given Ruby a reason to think otherwise. "Everything will be okay. Just grovel."

"Grovel?" August looked reflective for a moment, and then nodded."Can do."

Emma climbed the steps to find Ruby, still wearing her business and looking all prim and proper, when she was decidedly _not_ prim and proper by any stretch of the imagination, fussing over the cut near Lacey's temple. Lacey ate up every minute of her concern. She had a little, make that _big, _crush on August's woman, so any attention Ruby paid her made her giddy and stupid. Neal was searching the freezer for ice. Killian stood next to the dining table looking like he'd robbed a bank.

It didn't even take two minutes for Ruby to put August in his place. She was conscious enough of the lack of privacy to take their argument to the bedroom at the back of the bus, but even with the door closed, Emma could hear August's groveling. He was doing a fine job by Emma's estimation, though Ruby still didn't sound too forgiving about her fiance's matching black eyes.

Emma rubbed her swollen knuckles, wondering how she was going to play the nest night. She couldn't let herself get into any more fights. She didn't want to give them any reason to fire her from the band. Not after she'd worked so hard to become a part of it.

Killian retrieved a bottle of aspirin from the bathroom and grinned as he handed it to Neal. He nodded toward the thin bedroom door. "I guess they made up."

No more sounds of August groveling. Just the unmistakable cries of ecstasy that Ruby produced on a very regular basis.

Neal laughed. "Who can stay mad at August?" He swallowed several pills and passed the bottle to Lacey.

"I'm glad they made up," Lacey said, holding a bloody dish towel to her temple. "I'd have felt terrible if she called the wedding off."

"You should feel terrible," Emma said, staring at the floor, as she knew her gaze would hold a challenge. Through all the _lessons_ her foster father tried to teach her, keeping defiance out of her gaze had never stuck. "You started the whole thing."

"Well I didn't ask for your help, princess, now did I?" Lacey said.

Nope, she hadn't. Emma should have stayed out of it and let those bouncers rearrange Lacey's face.

Emma pursed her lips and nodded slightly. She left the bus without a word, not in the mood for another confrontation. Not with Lacey. The woman who had no idea how much of a positive impact she'd had on Emma's life. If she'd though of Lacey as anything less than her hero, she would have punched her in the face years ago.

Emma climbed on her Harley, secured her helmet, and started the bike. The engine roared to life beneath her. The freedom the sound represented instantly brought her peace of mind. She headed off, not really knowing where she was going, but her thoughts had settled on a black-haired beauty with a whip. That woman was exactly what she needed.

She wondered if the other woman was still at the club. Emma needed to pick up that card she;d promised her and make an appointment for her perfect abuse.

Immediately.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Emma pulled into the alley alongside the strip club. She shouldn't even be there. While she'd always been good at remaining unnoticed, she knew she had a distinctive appearance, and bouncers didn't take kindly to getting their asses kicked. If they caught sight of her, she'd probably spend the night in jail. Or worse, the hospital. Participating in a fight was one thing, being jumped by a group of musclemen, another thing entirely. But Emma was willing to risk it to see _her_ again. Her. Whoever she was. Hell, Emma didn't even know her name.

Emma turned off the Harley's ignition, shifted the bike backward to engage the kickstand, and climbed off. Leaning against the side of the seat with her helmet on she waited outside the back exit for her beautiful demon in black leather to emerge. Emma hoped she hadn't missed the dark haired woman. Emma needed her. In a bad way. She'd wait all night if she had to. It wasn't as if she had anywhere else to be.

Over the next half hour, several people, mostly other dancers, exited the club through the back door. Emma earned a few curious glances, but no one questioned her motives.

When she finally emerged, Emma's breath caught. She wore a long, black fur coat over her leather bustier, black satin panties, and thigh-high boots. Emma suppressed a shudder of primal longing. The woman paused at the bottom of the steps and reached into her pocket, searching for something. A cigarette, perhaps?

Emma patted her pockets looking for a lighter, but the other woman pulled out a pack of gum and popped a piece in her mouth. She turned her head in Emma's direction.

Noticed her.

Emma could feel herself getting wet already. Anticipation. Every inch of her skin tingled with longing.

The other woman's full, red lips curled into a sexy smile.

Did she recognize Emma? Emma didn't know how. She still wore her helmet with its black face shield down. Maybe she smiled like that at every woman. Emma wasn't sure why that thought bothered her. She just wanted to buy the woman's services for a few hours, not make her a permanent fixture in her life. Dear God, the woman was positively luscious.

She walked toward Emma, moving gracefully, like a prowling cat. The closer she got, the harder Emma's heart thudded and the faster it raced. Emma stood straight, stepping a way from the bike.

The darker woman stopped directly in front of her. Emma could feel the other woman's body heat through her clothes. It caressed her skin. Heightened Emma's awareness of her.

Emma leaned toward her. Wanting to touch her. Taste her. Experience everything she was.

But mostly, Emma wanted her to beat the ever-loving shit out of her.

"I thought you might show up," the woman murmured. "I still owe you a dance."

In her three-inch, thigh-high boots, she stood a couple inches taller than Emma. Without them, Emma probably had an inch on her. Her height didn't bother Emma. Looking up at the other woman excited her. Her long white neck excited the blonde. The sharp angle of her jaw. Smooth cheek. Full eyelashes. Thick, black hair. The musky scent of her perfume mingled with leather and spearmint gum. The soft, husky sound of her voice. Everything about this woman excited Emma. Emma needed her. Now. It took every shred of her willpower not to drag the other woman's body against Emma's own.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked.

The woman lifted the visor of Emma's helmet and stared into her eyes. Her chocolate brown irises stood in shocking contrast to her jet-black hair and porcelain-white skin. "Besides the fact that you're still wearing the same clothes?"

_Oh._

"It's the way you carry yourself, angel. The tension in your body. It pulsates off you. How long has it been since you've had release?"

Emma knew what she meant. She didn't mean sexual release. Emma could have that any time she wanted. She meant how long since Emma had gotten what she needed. The release _she_ could give her. "Almost a year."

The woman pursed her lips with sympathy. "Poor baby. I'll fix it." She touched Emma's cheek. "Make it all better."

Ripples of delight snaked along the blonde's jaw, down her neck and belly. Sent a shock to her core. Emma shuddered. Reached for the dark woman. Needing _it._ Her.

She slapped Emma's hand away. "No."

The blonde clenched her hand into a fist and lowered it to her side. She knew the woman was a domme and used to men and women taking her orders, so Emma allowed her to retain her power. For now. "Let's go."

"Now?"

"Yeah, now. Right now."

The woman laughed. The rich, husky sound made Emma's spine tingle.

"I've got to go back to work, sugar."

Emma;s breath came out in a frustrated huff. "Then When? When?"

"Tomorrow night. Ten o'clock."

Emma's stomach tightened. She shook her head. "I can't wait that long."

The other woman's hand cupped her crotch. Her breath caught. She rubbed Emma through her pants. Not too hard. Just enough to gift the blonde with delicious agony. It hurt so good, she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out in ecstasy.

"You will wait," the darker woman said evenly. "Say it."

Emma resisted.

The woman rubbed harder. "Say it."

Emma drew the horrible, sweet pain inside, craving more of the same. She removed her hand, and Emma winced. Her stomach roiled, but she wanted more pain. Lots more. And she knew the other woman wouldn't give it to her, ever, unless Emma obeyed her. "I will wait."

She smiled and slid something into Emma's hand. A business card. "This is the address. Be on time, or I won't answer the bell."

Emma glanced down at her plain black business card. There was just enough light in the alley to make out the blood red text.

_The Evil Queen_

_ Specializing in Corporal Punishment_

Corporal punishment? Lord, Emma almost came in her pants, just seeing it in print.

Emma took a steadying breath to clear her thoughts. She had other responsibilities to consider. Sinners had an important performance the next night. Would the concert be over by ten? Though they usually headlined, Sinners was opening tomorrow, so their set started earlier than usual. They should be done by nine thirty, so she'd have to hurry. "I'll be there," she said.

"I look forward to making you beg for mercy," the darker woman murmured.

"Then you'll be disappointed." Emma slid her card into her own pocket and climbed onto her bike. She turned the key, and the engine roared to life beneath her. "Until tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Emma moved her ice pack from her left hand to her right. The swelling was starting to go down, but she knew she wouldn't play for shit tonight. They were opening for The Lost Boys, in front of a sold out crowd. In fucking Las Vegas, Nevada. This should be a huge boost to their music careers, and they were all but guaranteed to suck. Sinners was moving up in the business, but The Lost Boys were at the top of the genre with no signs of slowing down. Could Sinners have picked a worse concert to be off their game? Not likely.

Rock star hair wet from a recent shower, Lacey sank onto the sofa beside Emma. "How's the hand?"

Emma shrugged. "I'll live."

"Yeah, but more importantly, can you play?"

Emma looked up at Lacey, who had three thin strips of tape on her temple holding her wound closed. "Should be able to. How's Neal?"

"He's taking a nap."

Emma drew her brows together. "A nap?" That didn't sound like Neal. Shouldn't he be out finding some girl to fuck for a couple hours? Or some guy? Neal didn't care either way. "Maybe we should take him to the doctor."

"I think he's kind of down about August getting married this afternoon. He won't say anything, of course, but August isn't going to have as much time for his best friend now that Wifey Booth is in the picture."

Emma guessed that made sense. Neal and August had been best friends for almost twenty years. They were even roommates. Neal was bound to feel left out now that August was married. "Yeah."

With no warning, Lacey slapped Emma on the back of the head. "Why didn't you ever mention that you fight like a UFC champion?"

Emma glanced up at her. "You never asked."

"Where did you learn to kick ass?"

The cabin of the tour bus seemed to close in on Emma. She did not like to think about her past, much less talk about it. She stared at the ice pack on her hand and shrugged. "I dunno. How about you? You were kickin' some ass."

Emma hoped to change the focus from herself to Lacey. It usually worked to dissuade prying. Especially with Lacey, attention whore extraordinaire.

"I had no choice but to learn to fight. I was shuffled from foster home to foster home for fifteen years. I didn't get the benefit of being matched with a sponsor who wanted to help kids or make a healthy family. They were all just looking for an easy paycheck. Half of them didn't even feed me." She shrugged, her blue eyes brightening as she effortlessly abandoned thoughts of her past. Emma wished she was capable of doing that. "Knocking heads together is fun though, right?"

_Fun?_ No, not really. Validating? Yeah, totally. "I guess. What started that fight anyway?"

"You didn't see that bouncer put Killian in a choke hold? He didn't even release him when I told him he was a professional singer. I had to deck him one."

Emma would have probably decked him one too. Killian's voice was one of those things that made Sinners so unique. Emma smiled slightly. "I'm glad we kicked their asses then."

"We should go rehearse." Lacey launched to her feet. "Our set is about half the length it usually is. I just know I'll end up kicking off with the intro to 'Twisted' when I should be playing 'Goodbye is not forever.'"

Emma chuckled. "I have a feeling we're gonna suck tonight anyway." She climbed from the comfortable leather sofa and tossed her melting ice pack in the tour bus's small freezer.

"No one will notice. The fans will be too excited to see The Lost Boys to give a rat's ass what we do."

"I think they'll notice that we suck."

Lacey chuckled. "Don't worry. No one ever listens to the bass guitarist. Suck as much as you want."

Emma bit her lip to prevent herself from telling Lacey off. The tension was really starting to get to her, and she needed an outlet. How many hours until she could visit the Evil Queen? She glanced at the clock on the stereo. _Shit. _Four hours too many.

After rehearsal and a quick bite of leftover wedding cake, Emma stood backstage off by herself, trying to psyche herself up enough to play live in front of twelve thousand people. The swelling in her hands had gone down, but her fingers lacked their usual flexibility. She feared that they'd let The Lost Boys down and do a piss-poor job as their opening band tonight. It made her sick to think that she might disappoint them. He owed that band a world of gratitude. Especially their lead guitarist, David.

Something poked her in the left shoulder, and she turned to find Lacey grinning at her, while using her drumstick as a prod. "You gonna hide out by the drum kit again tonight?"

Emma shrugged. She didn't like the performance part of playing live. She just wanted to play her bass guitar with all the skill she could muster and leave the crowd entertainment to Killian, August, and Neal. The three of them were naturals when it came to interacting with the audience. Emma wasn't. She felt like an as whenever she forced herself from the security of the back half of the stage.

"There's a problem with that idea tonight, princess."

"What problem?"

"We're opening, which means we're working with half a stage. There's no room for you near the back. My drums take up too much room. It's front and center for you tonight."

Emma's stomach plummeted into her boots. "Shit."

Lacey laughed at her misery. "This should be entertaining. Though I do remember a show when August was distracted with Ruby, and you took up his slack. You can be entertaining when you want to be."

Problem was she never wanted to be. She was there for the music. No other reason. She didn't require the ego trip of fan adulation. A loud crash startled Emma out of her reverie, Leroy, one of their long time roadies, extended a hand into a pile of empty guitar cases and pulled Neal to his feet.

"You okay?" Leroy asked.

Neal stumbled sideways as he regained his footing and held onto Leroy's arm for a long moment. Still unnaturally pale, Neal nodded slowly. "Yeah, just lost my balance."

Emma moved to stand next to their unsteady rhythm guitarist. "I think you should go get checked out. Head injuries aren't something to mess around with."

"I'm fuckin' fine. I wish everyone would stop treating me like I'm severely injured. Where the hell is August?"

"I think he's getting in a quickie with Ruby," Killian said, chomping down red licorice ropes by the yard. He used the candy's glycerin to lubricate his vocal cords, or so he claimed. His throat must still be bothering him.

"Jesus, all he does is fuck that woman these days," Neal grumbled. "Doesn't he realize we're onstage in ten minutes?"

"Seven minutes," Archie, their front of house soundboard operator, corrected before jogging out into the audience to work his magic on their audio equipment.

Neal stumbled against Emma, who grabbed him by both arms to steady him. "Take deep breaths."

Neal closed his eyes and obeyed without argument.

"Better?"

He nodded slightly and then winced in pain. "Fuck, my head hurts."

"Why don't you go sit down?" Lacey said. "You're going to break something."

"Probably your neck," August said as he finally joined them and lifted his guitar strap over his head.

"Done boning Ruby?" Neal asked, shaking his head at the pussy-whipped disgrace his best friend had become.

August chuckled. "Not by a long shot. The real honeymoon starts in forty-six minutes."

Killian scowled and grabbed Greg, their Mohawk-sporting, guitar-tuning roadie, by both arms. "Yo, Greg. Find me two real hot ones for tonight." Killian's scowl deepened. "Make that three hot ones."

No one needed to ask three hot whats. Killian meant groupies. He'd been in a mood since he'd run into his ex, Tina, the night before. Whichever three groupies Greg selected for Killian's entertainment were going to get fucked. Fucked long, hard, and good. Killian was in all-out predatory mode. Emma was doubly glad she'd be spending the time after their concert in the Evil Queen's dungeon. The bite of her whip was sure to be less painful than watching Killian's groupies cry and beg for his attention, after he'd finished with them and sent them on their way.

The stadium lights went down ,and the crowd cheered, knowing it meant it was time for the band to take the stage.

When Neal stumbled over the bottom step in the dark, August took him by one arm and helped him climb up to the stage. "You sure you're okay, buddy?" Emma heard August say over the crowd noise.

"Like you care." Neal wrenched his arm free of August's hold and trotted over to his usual spot stage right. There wasn't much light for Emma to find her own yellow X taped on the floor. At least she was behind the front line and somewhere in the middle. Here she could probably hide behind Killian's broad, muscular form.

The first thump of Lacey's bass drum kicked Emma's heart rate up a notch. She entered the first song, "Twisted," with her steady bass line progression. Her bruised and swollen fingers protested every note. By the time August entered his solo, Emma could scarcely force her fingers to move at all. Neal found a speaker to sit on. He typically strummed his rhythm guitar shreds with great enthusiasm, but several stumbles into his mic stand had him seeking a stable place to rest. He did manage to play without problem, as long as he didn't move around much. When Killian roared into the mic at the end of August's somewhat screwed up solo, the singer broke off mid-note with a cough. He cleared his throat and tried again with no success. Jesus, what a disaster.

When the song blissfully came to an end, Emma rubber her stiff and aching knuckles while Killian called to the crowd and told them they were the best audience ever. Same thing he told every crowd. He made no excuses for the band's unusual suckatude. The only one who was performing anywhere near normal was Lacey. As Lacey was the main reason they'd gotten into a club brawl in the first place, it didn't seem fair that she didn't suck as much as the rest of them.

Since Killian's singing was sub par, he apparently decided additional showmanship could make up for it. He dove into the crowd in the middle of their set's second song and seemed oblivious to the fact that he missed singing the vast majority of the lyrics, as the crowd passed him hand-over-hand above their heads. If Emma had tried that crazy shit, she'd probably have been tossed on the cement and trampled to death. Security rescued Killian from the writhing crowd, and he eventually made his way back to the stage.

"Hell yeah. You crazy muthas know how to rock!" Killian cried into his microphone. "Who's here to see the fucking Lost Boys?" He thrust a fist in the air as the crowd erupted into cheers. He cleared his throat. Winced. Turned his volume down to a lower roar. "My throat's a bit sore tonight. Note to self, do not get into fights in strip clubs the night before a show, no matter how fucking hot the chick is."

The audience cheered Killian's debauchery. Emma couldn't help but smile. The more trouble Sinners got into, the more their fans loved them. Occasionally, they had to act like, well, sinners and maintain their mostly fabricated, dark image. They waited while August and Neal traded their usual electric guitars for acoustics to play their next song, "Goodbye is not forever." This song always put a fucking knot in Emma's throat. It reminded her of Henry Blanchard. He was a younger kid in the orphanage Emma grew up in. The more reckless, lawless, and out of control Emma had been, the more Henry admired her and wanted to be like her. One reason she couldn't forget him was because she was responsible for his death in a car accident. Emma was driving the car. A stolen car.

Neal and August flanked the sides of the stage, sitting on platforms, as they strummed the intricate riff of the band's one and only ballad. Killian sat on the front of the stage, his legs dangling over the edge, and sang his heart out. Requisite knot in her throat, chills raced down Emma's spine at the sound of Killian's amazing voice.

The only one standing, Emma felt incredibly exposed. She took a deep breath, her fingers finding the thick, metal guitar strings and appropriate notes by memory. Concentration on producing the perfect sound—which wasn't easy with her knuckles so swollen—she approached the front of the stage, standing between Killian and Neal. Her eyes scanned the crowd, taking note of the sudden enthusiasm of several young women in the audience as she entered their view. Emma saluted a particularly excited twenty-something with two fingers, and the woman grabbed the hem of her T-shirt. She lifted both hands over her head, screaming at the top of her lungs, as she exposed her naked breasts to the band. Killian glanced up at Emma and grinned. Not to be outdone, Killian lifted his shirt and flashed a pair of hard pecs and his washboard abs to the Lady Sinners in the first few rows. The squeals of the women in the audience made Emma's ears ring, even over the music filtering in through her earpiece.

Killian tilted his head at Emma, as if to say, your turn. Emma shook her head and took several steps backward, her temporary desire to interact with the crowd completely obliterated. No sense in embarrassing herself in front of twelve thousand people.

By the time the concert ended, Emma's fingers refused to move, Neal could barely stand at all, Killian was singing at a whisper, and August was so distracted—by thoughts of his honeymoon, no doubt—that he walked offstage without removing his guitar. It produced a series f discordant sounds as he headed backstage at a run until a roadie managed to stop him ling enough to claim the instrument from their eager lead guitarist. All things considered, Emma couldn't remember a worse performance. If the crowd noticed, you couldn't tell by their cheers and the chanting of "Sinners, Sinners" ringing through the entire stadium.

"Wow, you all sucked," Lacey commented as she tossed a drumstick into the crowd at the front of the stage.

Emma flicked her guitar pick to the flasher chick in the front row. When it landed in her outstretched hand, she drew it to her lips, kissed it, and then started jumping up and down.

"I think you have a fangirl, Emma," Killian commented, wiping the sweat off his face with the hem of his shirt. "Maybe you should invite her backstage. You look like you need to get laid."

Emma felt her ears turn red. That fangirl had nothing she needed, but a black-haired dominatrix dressed in leather did. Thinking about the Evil Queen and the needs she was about to fulfill forced Emma to cross her arms over her hard nipples.

"I know _I_ need to," Killian added.

"I get to watch, right?" Lacey asked.

"You know I perform best in front of an audience." Killian winked, took another bow, and headed offstage.

Emma handed her instrument to Greg, who carefully carried it to the collection of guitars along the side of the stage. Emma dug the black and red business card out of her pocket. Now she just had to find the darker woman's address. Nothing short of death would prevent Emma from arriving on her doorstep at precisely ten p.m.


	4. Chapter 4

**An: This chapter is when the M rating really kicks in. If you're the least bit squeamish I recommend skipping this chapter, or even stopping the story completely. The smut only gets worse from her ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

Regina's doorbell buzzed at five minutes to ten. She smiled. Lit another candle. Flicked her fingers through the flame. Made her wait.

The bell buzzed again, longer this time. Looking in the mirror that covered one entire wall of her dungeon's outer room, Regina smoothed her long, wavy hair with both hands. Checked her makeup. Ran her tongue over her teeth. Made her wait.

_Buzz. Buzz-buzz. Buzzzz_

Regina stoked the handle of her favorite whip. Traced the floral design she'd embroidered on her leather corset. Glanced at the clock. Two minutes until ten. Not yet.

The other woman laid on the buzzer. _Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz._

Regina chuckled.

She left the soundproof room and walked through the foyer to answer the door.

On her doorstep the tough angel she couldn't get out of her thoughts. Her name was Emma. Emma Swan. Tina, Killian's ex-fiancee who had privilege to such information, had spilled that sweet tidbit to Regina earlier that day. Yeah, Regina had swallowed her tough bitch facade long enough to ask Tina about a girl. Not her proudest moment. She didn't think Tina would tell anyone that she was interested in someone she shouldn't be.

Emma met her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. "I thought I was late. That you wouldn't answer."

Just as cute as Regina remembered her. If she'd lose the piercings, bad attitude, and tattoos, she could have made a comfortable living as an Abercrombie and Fitch model. How did a girl this fine end up with a pain fetish? None of her business, Regina decided. She was just trying to make a living here. And hell, she might as well enjoy her work.

"Come in."

She entered. Glanced around looking excited and anxious.

Regina took her hand and led her to the zebra print love seat just outside the open door of her sanctum: the room where men and women alike spent most of their time on their knees. Regina and Emma sat side by side, inches separating their thighs. They needed to talk business so Regina knew what Emma wanted. How she wanted it. And for how long. Each customer was different. "What do you want me to call you, sugar?"

"Emma," she said.

"Is that short for something?"

She tensed, and a flash of deep emotional pain stole across her even features. "No. It's not."

"Whatever you prefer. I'll call you dog, slut, slave, pussy, bitch, Batman, whatever you like."

The blonde grinned and shifted her gaze to her hand, which rested on her knee. "Emma is fine."

That brief glimpse of her smile had Regina's belly quivering. She'd never been this stupid over a girl before, especially not one of her submissives. What was wrong with her? She was going to hit the other woman extra hard for making Regina want her.

She lifted her free hand and stroked the blonde's pale, soft cheek, trying to get Emma to look at her. The blonde's mouth fell open, and she tilted her head in Regina's direction, shuddering with contained desire. Oh fuck, yeah. She needed to get to work.

"Your safe word is _mercy. _Mercy, Your Majesty."

"I don't need a safe word."

Regina bit her lip to hold back her snort of amusement. "I specialize in corporal punishment."

"That's why I'm here."

Regina decided this girl was into the kind of stuff she was too squeamish to perform. "There's something you should know before I start. I refuse to break the skin. I don't do hooks or barbed wire. I won't nail your labia to the floor. If you get off on that kind of thing, I have a couple colleagues I could refer you to, but I won't go that far, no matter how much you pay me."

The other woman shook her head. "I just want you to hit me."

Regina laughed. "That I do. And I do it well."

"Can we get started now?"

Yeah they could. "Do you want mt to restrain you?"

"No."

"Gagged, hooded, collared?"

"Just fuckin' hit me, okay? I don't want to talk about it."

Regina would make her regret that disrespect. "You pay half your tribute now. Half when we're finished."

"How much?"

"Two hundred for ten minutes."

"How much for two hours?"

Regina's eyes widened. "Two hours?"

The blonde nodded curtly, avoiding her gaze.

"Sugar, I don't think-"

"How much?"

The longest Regina had ever gone was forty minutes. Emma must not know what she was in for. Some dommes spent the majority of the session teasing, but she liked to get right down to business. Her theory was spare the whip and spoil the slave. She didn't tie people up and leave them in the middle of the floor for two hours while she painted her fingernails, and then spanked them for three minutes before sending them home. She spanked first. Whipped second. If they made it that far. But if Emma wanted to pay her for two hours, she was more than happy to take her money. "Two grand." Hot chick discount.

The blonde opened her wallet and retrieved ten crisp one-hundred dollar bills.

Regina folded the cash and slid it into her leather bodice. "No refunds."

"Fine." She stood. "Where?"

A woman of few words. Regina really was starting to like this girl.

"I want to make it clear that I'm not a prostitute. You aren't buying sex. I don't have sex with clients."

"I know how this works."

"Good." She climber to her feet and took Emma's hand. "Follow me."

Regina led her to the sanctum ans slid the heavy door closed behind them. It clanged shut. She bolted it and checked the panic button to make sure it was functional. She'd never had to use it and doubted she would now, but even a girl who was an expert in self-defense and knew how to use a whip _might_ need assistance from the police or a paramedic at some point.

Emma glanced around with interest. The room was perfectly square, with padding on three walls to muffle sound. The mirror on the fourth wall was for clients who liked to watch while Regina inflicted pain. If they didn't want to watch themselves cry and beg, she could slide the heavy, velvet curtain across it. There was a second room where she stored extra instruments and cleaned and sanitized the tools of her trade after each session.

Emma examined the implements on a table against one wall.

"Something there catch your fancy?" Regina asked.

"I'd like to try them all." Emma glanced at her over her shoulder, her green eyes meeting Regina's unflinchingly. "Repeatedly, and in excess."

Regina covered her surprise with a laugh. "You're going to regret giving me complete freedom, Emma. I'm known for my viciousness."

"I look forward to it."

She smiled, and Regina's heart skipped a beat. My god, she was probably the cutest girl Regina had ever encountered anyway, but when she smiled... Regina swallowed and gave herself a mental shake. She couldn't afford to be attracted to a client. Not even one who made her wet on sight.

"You ready to start?"

"Yes."

She stepped close to Emma, her nose inches from the blonde's. "Yes, Your Majesty." Her voice was hard.

Emma shuddered, watching her through half-lowered lids. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Take your clothes off."

"All of them?"

Regina gritted her teeth and poked her in the center of her chest with one finger. "Don't question me. Never fucking question me. Understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Emma removed her leather coat, T-shirt, boots and socks. Nice body. Lean with sculpted muscles. Decorated here and there with tattoos. Regina wished she had time to examine them more closely, but she had to pretend she held no regard for the blonde. That she was insignificant. That she was privileged to get _any _attention from Regina. Even her abuse. _Especially _her abuse. It was one of the most important components of the game they played.

Emma hesitated, clutching the waistband of her jeans. "I don't wear underwear."

"What? You think I care about seeing your pussy? Do you think it's special? That it might hold my interest?"

Emma trained her gaze on the floor. "No, Your Majesty,"

"Then strip."

She took off her jeans. It turned out her pussy was something special. Swollen. Beautiful. Dripping. And completely shaved. Regina's own pussy throbbed at the sight of it. Okay, so she _was_ interested, but she couldn't let the blonde know that.

"Do I excite you, Emma?" she asked with a sardonic grin. It had been a long time since she'd wanted to fuck a woman. Any woman. And she'd never wanted to fuck a client.

Until now.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The blonde gasped. "You make me wet. Punish me."

"Down on your knees."

Emma hesitated. She didn't look at Regina when she said, "No."

"No?"

So she wanted to play. Regina did like a challenge. She rarely got one.

"I just want you to hurt me. I don't want to grovel or be humiliated." When she tilted her head to look at the darker woman, there was defiance in her eyes. Defiance? She wasn't a submissive? Then why was she here? What in the hell did she need Regina for?

Regina watched her struggle to repress her defiance and decided that she _did _want to submit. She just needed more encouragement than most. Regina's typical clients would already be crawling around on their hands and knees, begging for pain, and then crying for mercy.

"If you want me to hurt you, you'll do as I say," Regina said in a dangerous growl. She slid her hand over Emma's lower back and the blonde tensed. Regina tried to ignore the thrill of excitement that trembled in her belly when she touched the other woman. "And if you think you can talk to me without addressing me properly, I'm going to fucking gag you. You will _always_ address me with respect. As Your Majesty." She grabbed Emma's nipple and twisted. What she really wanted to do was knock the other woman off her feet and sit on her face for about an hour. It was the look in the girl's eye. The strength. So unlike what Regina was used to. It made it difficult for her to stay in her dominant character. Made her want to submit to the blonde. And that was entirely unacceptable. Without even trying, she had managed to throw Regina off her game, and she didn't appreciate it. It pissed her off.

Regina gritted her teeth. "Don't look at me like that, Emma."

The defiance never left the other woman's eyes, but she lowered her gaze. To hide it. When Regina released her nipple, the blonde took several deep breaths. "I apologize, Your Majesty."

Her unusual mix of strength and weakness drove Regina crazy.

"If you want to feel the bite of my whip, Emma, you'll get down on your . knees."

Struggling with her pride, Emma dropped to her knees at Regina's feet. The blonde didn't look at her. Kept her eyes downcast. No doubt she was still hiding her defiance from Regina. She'd relieve the blonde of it soon enough. Regina lifted her foot and pressed her spiked heel into Emma's chest. "Kiss it."

Again the blonde hesitated. This one would be fun to break. Regina couldn't wait to get started.

She waited patiently. The minutes ticked by slowly. Her leg was getting tired by the time Emma pecked the sole of her boot. "Forgive me, Your Majesty."

"Stand, Emma."

She stood. No hesitation there.

Regina grabbed a thick, red rope that was hooked to a ring in the wall. She pulled it out straight and handed it to Emma. The blonde wrapped it around her left wrist and gripped the taut rope with a bruised left hand. Regina handed her a second rope affixed to the opposite wall. Emma wrapped that one around the black leather cuff on her right wrist and gripped the rope with her right hand. With her arms extended to the sides, it left her back exposed for Regina's work, and gave her a wonderful view of the blonde's hot body. She wasn't tall, but had a perfect physique. Especially that tight little ass of hers. Damn, her one major weakness when it came to women. A perfect ass. And it couldn't get any better than this. A gentle curve. Tender cheek. Slight indentation on the lateral sides. Regina could write sonnets about that ass, but Emma hadn't paid her to ogle her gorgeous naked body. Regina had work to do.

She would start light and increase the intensity until she found Emma's happy place. Regina didn't know her tolerance for pain and had to seek the blonde's threshold before she could do her real work. Finding Emma's edge and driving her just beyond it. Not too far. Never too far. But taking the blonde exactly where she wanted to be. Beyond pain. Where euphoria ruled.

Selecting a smooth, round wooden paddle from her table, Regina moved to stand beside Emma. Their eyes met in the mirror.

"Have you been naughty, Emma? Do you need a spanking?" The musky scent of the blonde's excitement engulfed Regina, and her nipples tightened.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Emma said breathlessly.

Regina dropped the Evil Queen act for a moment to whisper to the other woman. "Yell all you want, Emma. The room is soundproof. No one will hear you. I will hit you until you say, 'Mercy, Your Majesty.' Do you understand?" She slapped the blonde's ass with the paddle, careful to make it sting, but not leave a bruise.

Emma didn't even flinch, much less yell.

"What do you say to get me to stop?" Regina prompted.

When the other woman didn't respond, Regina rubbed her hand over the blonde's ass, her hip, her thigh. The firm muscle of her flank quivered beneath the darker woman's touch. "Tell me, Emma, or I'm finished."

"I don't need a safe word."

Regina dropped her hand and stepped away. "Then I'm done. Put your clothes on."

"Mercy, Your Majesty," Emma said.

Regina smiled to herself. She was starting to understand how this one ticked. She touched her paddle to the other woman's ass. "That's good. Say it again so you don't forget."

"Mercy, Your Majesty," the blonde whispered.

"Now don't say it unless you mean it. The second you say it, I promise to stop no matter how much I'm enjoying your agony."

Emma swallowed hard and nodded.

Regina struck her ass with her paddle, watching the woman's reaction to determine when she was near her limit. Harder. In the same place. Again. Again. Regina knew the sweet spot. The tender place on the buttocks that stung like the dickens when swatted. Emma glanced at her as if to ask her when she was going to start.

"You've been very naughty, haven't you?" Regina said, rubbing the blonde's ass with her bare hand. She usually did that to ease the sting so her client could take more pain, but in Emma's case, she just really wanted to touch the other woman.

"Hurt me, Your Majesty. Please, hurt me."

Regina moved to something more vicious. She skipped the riding crop and selected the three short whips attached to a handle. She struck Emma's back with a loud crack. Most people would have cried out. Emma didn't even twitch. In the mirror, Regina saw her eyes were glazed with pain. Not physical pain. Emotional pain. Deep and scarring. Why did she have the sudden, ridiculous urge to hug the blonde? Regina struck her harder. Harder. Harder than she normally would, watching the welts rise in threes on the woman's skin. Regina didn't usually take anyone this close to bloodletting. Why did the blonde refuse to cry out or beg for mercy? Could she even feel pain?

Feeling twinges of frustration, Regina tossed the short whips aside and grabbed her bullwhip from the table. It cracked loudly as the tip snapped and left a red stripe along Emma's side. A second strike wrapped around her body and left a welt on her belly. Her thigh. Her chest. Her back again. She didn't react. Not once. The only indication that she felt anything was the occasional twitch above her left eye. She wasn't even gripping the ropes very tightly.

Where the fuck was this girls' threshold? Regina wasn't sure how much harder she could hit the blonde. And the usual signs she recognized to help her locate a person's limit were all missing.

"Am I hurting you at all?"

Not enough," Emma whispered. "Make me bleed."

Regina refused to make her bleed, bu there were other things she could do to break the woman. And that's what Emma needed. She needed to be broken. Regina would drive her to her knees. Make her beg Regina ti stop. The blonde _would_ submit to her, even if it took all night.

The Evil Queen tossed her whip aside and returned to the table. She blew out a candle. Tested the melted wax with her fingertips and jerked them back. Hot! She stared Emma in the face and splashed the wax up her chest and neck. "How's that?" Regina sputtered. "Did that hurt?"

"Do I make you angry, Your Majesty?"

Regina had never met a woman she couldn't break, and yes, the blonde's silent suffering—her _stoicism—_angered her. The girl had to be in a lot of pain, but for all she showed. Regina might as well be tickling her with a feather.

"I'm not angry. I'm trying to figure out how to make you submit."

"No one ever has before," Emma told her. "but you're doing a fine job trying. Don't stop now."

"Don't patronize me."

"Do you have a flog? With knots?"

Regina flogged her, first with her nylon flog with its three dozen, foot-long, stinging straps. And then with her knotted leather flog that left the blonde's skin a mess of crisscrossed welts. She didn't flinch. Didn't protest. Regina took up a thick wooden rod and caned the other woman more than dozen times against her already raw back. Careful to avoid vital organs, such as kidneys, Regina grunted with exertion as each strike landed between the blonde's shoulders. _Caned _her. Regina never resorted to such vicious caning. Didn't use the cane very often, as it wasn't usually necessary. And still Emma made no protest. Regina wasn't even enjoying this. The feeling of power that usually infused her when she served her slaves was nonexistent. Her temper flared.

Emma glanced at her over her shoulder. "If you're getting tired-"

"Shut up."

Regina took up her bullwhip again and vented her increasing frustration on the other woman's back. She wasn't even in her role as dominatrix as she cracked her whip. She just wanted the blonde to cry out. Just once. Any indication that Regina was getting through to her would be appreciated. She needed that. To know she was in control. She didn't want to admit that she wasn't. Or that as long as she let Emma get to her, _she_ was the one in control. Regina struck the backs of the other woman's thighs, realizing how much that fucking hurt, but the blonde took it. She took it and calmly waited for Regina to continue.

"Damn it, Emma! Work with me." She struck Emma across the back again. An angry red stripe appeared. Not a welt. Blood.

Emma gasped softly.

Regina dropped her whip. She prided herself as a professional in causing all the pain, but never drawing blood. What she'd done to Emma hadn't been professional. Regina had been frustrated. _Angry. _She;d never become angry during a session before. Of course, she'd never met someone she couldn't break in ten minutes or whose threshold for pain was this far above normal. Maybe the blonde was just juiced up on painkillers or something. She didn't look stoned, but Regina couldn't think of any other plausible reason for her to accept so much pain so easily. Regina paused behind Emma, gently touching the raw skin above the bleeding gash that ran diagonally from shoulder to spine.

"I'm so sorry, Emma. I didn't mean..."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, may I have another?"

"No." Regina shook her head vigorously. "_No!_ Your session's over"

"I paid for two hours."

"Then I'll give you your money back."  
"You said no refunds."  
Regina circled Emma's body to face her and stared into her eyes. Never had she seen so much pain in a woman so young. She wasn't using Regina for release. She was taking Regina's abuse and internalizing it, adding it to what already existed and building upon the ache inside her. Regina knew Emma felt every lash of her whip. Knew she had hurt the blonde far more than she'd been letting on. Why did she refuse to crumble? Regina didn't get it.

"Whatever it is that's eating you alive, you have to let it go," she murmured, stroking Emma's brow, her smooth cheek, and her angled jaw with tender fingertips. "Let it go, Emma."

The blonde's jaw set. She shook her head slightly. I'd rather be gutted alive."

Regina's hand still cupping the side of her face, she tilted her head and eased closer until a fraction of an inch separated their lips. Regina shouldn't kiss her. She wanted to, but... Leaning away slightly, her eyes searched the blonde's. As much as she wanted Emma physically, it was more important to help her. Take that anguished shadow from her gaze. Take it away.

Take it.

Regina's lips brushed Emma's, light as a feather. Emma shuddered, emitting a huff of air, and her lips parted to coax Regina closer for a deeper kiss. Regina devoured her mouth, intoxicated by the other woman's taste, her scent. A deep longing hollowed her core, leaving her empty and wanting. Regina pressed her leather-clad bosom against Emma's own breasts, her free hand circling the blonde's back to press her closer. The stickiness of her blood against Regina's fingertips reminder her of what she'd done to the other woman.

Regina pulled away, knowing that kiss had been all her idea. She couldn't lay any of the blame on the blonde. Emma was still holding on to the ropes, her fists tight and knuckles white.

"I want you, Your Majesty," she growled.

Regina's lips parted, her nipples tightened, and her pussy swelled until it throbbed relentlessly. She wanted the blonde too, but she never had sex with clients. She sighed with remorse. "The name's Regina." She uncoiled the rope from Emma's right wrist, and she released her grip. "Let's go take care of that wound."

"It's nothing," Emma insisted. "Finish me."

"It is something, and I am _finished_ with you. You paid for professional treatment, and I got carried away. I apologize for breaking your trust. I drew blood. That was unacceptable."

"I don't think so, but fine. If you're not into this, I'll go." Emma released the second rope and moved to the edge of the room to find her clothes.

Regina didn't want her to go. She wanted the blonde inside her. Inside Regina, not the Evil Queen, but it was the Evil Queen Emma wanted. She'd said so herself.

Before Emma could slide into her pants, Regina took her hand and yanked her toward the bolted door.

"You're not going anywhere until I dress that cut," she said.

Emma didn't protest, allowing Regina to open the door and lead her through the foyer to a second part of her domicile—her private living quarters. She'd never brought a client into her personal home before, but now that their business transaction was over, Regina wasn't thinking of the blonde as a client. She tapped a code into the lock's keypad and pushed open the reinforced door that separated her home from her dungeon.

After securing the door behind them, she led Emma to her bedroom and urged the blonde to sit on the edge of her bed while she went to the connecting bathroom for antibiotic ointment and bandages. Regina pulled the thousand dollars still in her bodice out, tossed it into the sink, and carried the first-aid supplies back to her bedroom. She found Emma where she'd left her, with her eyes closed, breathing deeply through her nose.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked.

Emma started and turned her head to look at Regina standing in the doorway. As her gaze drifted over the dark-haired woman's body, she grew extremely wet again. Good. Regina wanted her wet. Wet and swollen, so she could soothe the blonde with her flesh. And Emma could take care of that deep ache between her thighs.

"I'm trying to calm down." Emma kept breathing deeply through her nose. Hoping to cool off before she creamed her panties.

"You don't want to fuck me?"

"You don't fuck clients," Emma reminded her.

"True. The Evil Queen never fucks her clients." Regina climbed up onto the bed behind the other woman. Emma watched over her shoulder as Regina applied antibiotic ointment and a few bandages in places that were still seeping blood. Regina hoped it didn't scar. The blonde had such a beautiful body. She'd hate to think she'd caused it permanent damage. Regina pressed a kiss to Emma's skin, just above the gash. "I told you, your session is over. If you want to fuck the Evil Queen, she's off duty, but if you want to fuck Regina, she's willing."

She slid her arms around Emma's body, loving the feel of soft breasts and ripped abs beneath her palms. Regina enjoyed the feeling of the blonde's six pack under her fingertips while she sucked her earlobe and the silver earring that decorated it into her mouth. Ears. Another weakness of hers.

"Regina," Emma whispered.

The sound of her name on the other woman's lips wrapped around Regina's heart and squeezed. She shouldn't get tangled up with this one. Regina could already tell she'd be sad to see the blonde go, whether she left in thirty minutes, thirty days, or thirty years. Damn it anyway. Regina had a soft spot for these tragic, quiet types. And a defiant submissive? Good lord, how was she supposed to resit that combination? She almost hoped Emma sucked in bed. It would make it easier to discard her. Regina had no use for a woman. Any woman. Not even this one, who seemed custom-made to her specifications.

Regina released the other woman's earlobe, and Emma turned, crawling up on the bed to face Regina. The blonde tugged Regina against her and kissed her, sucking on her lips with tender abandon. If she fucked half as good as she kissed, Regina was done for. She clung to Emma's ruined back, opening her mouth to accept the blonde's exploratory tongue. Emma didn't probe and thrust like some uncouth animal. She stroked and caressed Regina's lips and mouth so tenderly it made her heart swell. While Emma kissed her, the blonde's fingers methodically worked at the clasps on the back of her leather bustier. Unhurried, Emma released the fastenings one by one, her fingertips brushing every inch of Regina's spine as they moved downward. Emma loosened the garment until nothing held it in place but the proximity of their intertwined bodies.

Her fingers found the smooth skin of Regina's back. They dug into her flesh as the blonde ground Regina's body against her own and then Emma's touch softened, gently stroking, coaxing a soft sigh from Regina's throat. Emma eased her onto her back, robbing Regina's mouth oh hers, as the blonde lifted her head to look down at Regina.

"Your beauty steals my breath," Emma murmured.

"Your kiss steals mine."

Emma smiled and cupped Regina's face in both hands. The blonde kissed her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her eager lips. Regina spread her thighs for Emma, and she settled between them. One strong hand moved to the margin where the leather of Regina's boot ended and the flesh of her thigh began. Emma's mouth moved over the dark-haired woman's chin to her throat, where the blonde suckled and kissed Regina's sensitive flesh until she thought she might cry from the care Emma showed her.

Emma shifted onto one elbow and peeled Regina bustier from her body. She tossed the stiff garment aside, and grinned crookedly at the sight of her breasts. "Very nice."

Regina's heart thudded. That smile of hers. If she hadn't already been utterly seduced by the blonde woman, that would have done it.

Regina's nipples pebbled beneath the blonde's heavy gaze. Emma didn't touch or kiss her excited flesh, only stared as if in utter awe. Regina felt like the most beautiful woman in the world at that moment. And then Emma slid down her body to suck her nipple into her mouth.

Regina gasped, her fingers stealing into Emma's curled blond hair. She held Emma to her breast. Regina's back arched and she shuddered with pleasure. Emma's hand moved to Regina's free breast, and she cupped it gently, caressing the nipple with her thumb. The blonde used a rhythm that matched the strokes of her tongue, No awkward plucking and brutal squeezing from this girl. The woman knew how to please a breast.

"Emma", the dark-haired woman murmured. "Emma."

Regina squirmed, wriggling her hips from side to side, wanting Emma to fill her body with her own. Regina could feel Emma's wetness on her thigh, and she cried out.

_Oh God, Emma. Take me._

Regina was ready for her. Probably had been the moment she'd noticed the blonde striding across the room back at the club. Emma lifted her head, blessed Regina with a gentle smile, and then shifted her head to take the other breast into her hot mouth. Emma sucked hard, and then rubbed the flat of her tongue against Regina's budded nipple. Sucked hard again. Rubbed. Sucked. Regina quivered beneath her, the throbbing ache between her thighs unbearable.

"Emma." Regina cried desperately.

Emma's hands slid over her rib cage, and the blonde moved down her body, trailing tender kisses down the center of Regina's belly. Emma made love to Regina's navel with her tongue until Regina thought she'd explode. Sliding further down, Emma shifted until her face was even with Regina's crotch. Regina's thighs trembled in anticipation. Emma must smell her sex and feel the heat coming from it. She was so hot. So wet.

Waiting.

Wanting.

"Emma, please."

"Shhh, Regina. Don't rush it."

Emma lowered her head and kissed the inner surface of Regina's thigh.

Regina gasped, her pussy clenching, so close to release she knew she'd explode the second Emma finally possessed her. But Emma didn't claim her. The blonde kissed a trail down the inside of Regina's thigh. Emma then started her slow journey down Regina's leg. Unzipping her boot as she went, the blonde's lips and tongue forged a gentle path of pleasure from thigh to toe. When she finished, Regina's boot lay discarded somewhere on the floor. And the dark-haired woman was clinging to the bedclothes.

"Emma, you're driving me crazy."

Emma chuckled. Regina loved the sound of her laugh. Light and airy. Happy. Could a woman so consumed by pain feel happiness?

Regina lifted her head and gazed down at the blonde as she crawled her way up Regina's body to work on her other leg. Emma was smiling to herself as she plucked Regina's panties on the way past, as if to say, this is next on my list of things to pleasure with my sinful mouth. Regina's breath came out in an excited huff.

_Yes, Emma. There._ She couldn't wait. Couldn't wait to feel Emma's tongue against her clit. Stroking her fluid-drenched lips. Writhing in her pussy. _Oh! Please, hurry._

Emma worked her way down Regina's other leg, the blonde's long hair tickling against the inside of her thigh. Regina was panting and thrashing with excitement when Emma moved back up her body. The blonde ran her finger under the elastic of Regina's black satin panties. She shuddered.

Regina's back arched at the thought of Emma inside her. Filling her. Fucking her. _Oh God, Emma, I need you. Inside me. Immediately. _

Emma slid Regina's panties off, the blonde's hands skimming her thighs, the backs of her knees, calves, and ankles. Emma tossed the undergarment aside and spread the darker woman's legs wide. Cool air bathed Regina's hot, aching flesh. Emma's warm breath stirred against her wet skin. Regina groaned.

Regina was glad she'd waxed every bit of her pubic hair when Emma drew one exposed and swollen labium into her mouth, sucking until Regina thought she'd go mad, sliding her wicked tongue over the slick inner surface until Regina's hips bucked. Emma suckled her way to her mound. The blonde's tongue brushed the hood of skin that covered her clit, and Regina cried out in delirious torment. Emma suckled her other swollen lip, swirled her tongue in the empty, wet well between them much too briefly, and scraped her chin over Regina's tender asshole. Emma plunged her tongue inside the puckered orifice and then slid it up to bury it inside Regina's throbbing pussy. Regina's mouth fell open.

"Emma, Emma!" She grabbed the blonde's hair, yanking upward hard.

Emma shuddered and then fucked Regina with her tongue, thrusting it as deep as possible and withdrawing, before thrusting inside again. The blonde slid the tip of one finger in Regina's ass, removed her tongue from Regina's pussy, and replaced it with two fingers on the same hand. Regina's body strained against Emma's hand as she burrowed her fingers deeper, deeper, wriggling them inside her, spreading her wide. And then, the blonde sucked Regina's clit into her mouth.

Regina exploded with ripples of unparalleled delight.

"Yes, yes, yes!" she screamed as Emma sucked her clit, the blonde's tongue stroking the engorged flesh, her fingers writhing inside Regina's clenching pussy, and her delighted asshole.

Too quickly, Emma pulled away and moved up Regina's body until they were face-to-face. She licked Regina's juices off her fingers, murmuring delighted sounds in the back of her throat.

Emma lowered her head and kissed Regina, before putting one of her legs between Regina's own. When their clits lined up perfectly, Emma began slowly grinding her body against the one below her. When the blonde finally possessed Regina completely, she started moving her body in sync with Emma's.

"You're beautiful," Emma murmured, brushing her lips against Regina's. "Your body—_bliss."_

Regina didn't know how the blonde managed to make her feel so loved. _Love? _Now there's a sentiment she didn't typically consider when a woman was between her thighs.

Emma started grinding a little faster. She watched Regina closely. It was as if her own pleasure didn't matter to her—only Regina's. Emma's rhythm, relentless and perfect, tugged Regina willingly up the slope toward release, spiraling closer to nirvana. The blonde's deep strokes were neither too slow, nor too fast. Just right.

Once Emma found Regina's rhythm, she kissed the dark-haired woman's neck while she made love to her, brushed the backs of her hands over her skin, rubbed her nipples between her thumb and forefinger, and drove Regina utterly mad with desire. Regina had never known a woman to continue with foreplay throughout the entire experience. Emma worked every pleasure point on her body as she moved over her. Going so far as to rub her big toe over the instep of Regina's foot every so often, after she discovered it made Regina shudder with unexpected delight. Regina closed her eyes and let Emma have complete control. She'd never given her power to another woman so effortlessly. She always struggled with this, but not with Emma. Why? Regina was too delirious to consider the reason.

After a long while of inflicting her perfect pleasure, Emma's breath hitched, and Regina opened her eyes to find the blonde biting her lip. "I waited too long," she gasped. "Can I come now?"

Emma was _asking _her?

"Yeah go ahead." Emma had more than earned her release.

It was as if something inside the blonde snapped. She tore into Regina like an animal. She wrapped her arms around the backs of Regina's thighs and folded her in half. Emma fucked her hard, grinding herself on Regina's thigh. Regina cried out, unable to distinguish between pleasure and pain, knowing only that she loved it and didn't want Emma to stop. She liked the harsh contrast of being fucked after the considerate tender lovemaking Emma had showed her before.

"Yes, Emma!" she screamed. "Fuck me."

"Hurt me," the blonde countered.

Regina's nails dug into Emma's stomach. The blonde groaned.

Regina drew her hands down, leaving eight parallel scratches down Emma's abdomen. The blonde shuddered, her head tilting to the side, her mouth falling open in ecstasy. "God, yes," she growled.

Regina grabbed her nipple, twisting viciously.

Emma lowered her head to kiss her. Regina bit her lip until she tasted Emma's blood. The blonde didn't resist her cruelty, but rose up on her knees so she could grind harder.

Regina cried out, close to orgasm.

Emma's lip now free of the other woman's bite, she lifted her head and looked down at Regina. "Do you want to come hard?"

Well, of course she did. What kind of question was that?

"Yes, Emma. Make me come hard."

"Don't take your eyes off mine."

Emma continued to grind onto her, driving Regina closer to the edge.

Regina stared at her, lost in the blonde's intense gaze. Emma watched her as if looking for the exact moment to let go and join the other woman in bliss.

Regina felt a connection to Emma—deeply personal, more than sex. More than she wanted to experience with some woman she scarcely knew. Regina's heart thudded hard in her chest. For a short instant, Emma let Regina see her. That internal part of her troubled psyche she hid from the world. Regina's breath caught, and she held it even after her lungs began to sting in protest.

Unexpectedly, Regina's womb contracted. A spasm gripper her pussy. Ripples of release sent her body into convulsions, and she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

Oh God, she was coming. And coming. And coming. Emma rubbed against her harder. "Regina, hurt me. I need..."

The instant Regina dug her fingers into Emma's raw back, the blonde's body shuddered against hers as she orgasmed. Emma rubbed her face against the hollow of Regina;s neck as she called out. They clung to each other, bodies writhing in mutual bliss.

Emma paused and lifted her head. Her voice sounded distant. "Breathe, baby. Take a breath."

_Breath?_ What did she mean?

"Regina!" Emma shook he by both shoulders.

Regina gasped, glorious air filling her stinging lungs, and came again. Came even harder than when that first orgasm had gripped her in that intense moment of personal connection she didn't quite understand. Regina cried out, rocking her hips to work against Emma's thigh between her own. Regina's entire body writhed with ecstasy, twisting her into an involuntary spasm of delight.

That had been fucking amazing.

When her body stilled. Emma moved her arms from the backs of her thighs so Regina could stretch her legs out straight. She rubbed Regina's hips to alleviate the ache, and then cupped her face in both hands to gently kiss her lips.

"You okay?" Emma whispered. She rubbed the tip of her nose against Regina's cheek, the blonde's lips tickling the skin near her ear. "I think you forgot how to breathe there for a second."

"I'm more than okay," Regina said deliriously. "What_ was _that?"

"What?" Emma rubbed her lips over Regina's jaw.

"I can't explain it. I don't know if it was how hard you were fucking me or the way you were looking at me or something else. It was..."

"Exciting?"

"Exciting? That was fucking unbelievable. Do it again, please."

Emma lifted her head and stared down into her eyes. The blonde looked utterly stunned. "You don't hate me now?"

"How could I hate you after that? I've never experienced anything like it in my life. It was wonderful."

"Even though I couldn't come until you hurt me?"

"If that's what you need to get off, I'm perfectly fine with it."

Emma smiled. "This is usually the part where the woman calls me a sick bitch, grabs her clothes, and runs out of the room naked without a backwards glance."

"I'm not running."

Emma's smile widened, causing Regina's heart to stutter stupidly in her chest. "I noticed. Will you whip me again? I'll take it better now that I'm not so sexually frustrated."

Regina grinned. "I'd be happy to. Will you fuck me again when you've had enough pain?"

Emma kissed her and rolled over. "If I'm still capable of moving."

Regina dragged herself from the bed, not ready to shake the afterglow still coursing through her body. She sighed and reached for her panties.

"You're getting dressed?" Emma asked.

"Don't you want me to whip you again?"

"Yeah, I want _you_ to whip me—Regina, not the Evil Queen. I want you naked. I want the body I'm learning to please exposed while you hurt me."

"I can't, Emma. I'm not capable of hurting you as myself. I have to be in the domme role."

Emma cocked an eyebrow at her and ran her hand down the scratches on her chest. "Oh really?"  
Regina ducked her head. She had hurt the blonde. And something about it excited her. "This is usually the part where the woman calls me a crazy bitch, grabs her clothes, and runs out of the room naked without a backwards glance."

"I'm not running." Emma held a hand out, and she crossed the room to take it.

Emma led Regina through her home, back into the foyer, and into the soundproof room. A cell phone was beeping in Emma's pile of clothes. She had a voice mail. Her brow furrowed. "Who could that be? No one ever calls me."

The blonde retrieved her phone from her leather jacket and listened to her message. Regina watched her expression change from confusion to horror. Emma reached for her clothes and started to dress.

"Sorry, but I have to go."

"Is something wrong?"

"Neal's in the hospital."

"Neal?"

"Sinners' rhythm guitarist."

"Is it something serious?"

Emma stomped her foot into one boot. "Yeah, sounds like it. Head injury. Can I see you again?"

Regina crossed her arms over her naked breasts. "If you have an appointment."

"Tomorrow night? Same time?"

"I have another client scheduled for ten tomorrow."

Emma's entire body jerked, the way it should have responded when Regina whipped her. "Oh," she murmured breathlessly.

"How about five in the evening?"

Emma's smile rivaled the sun in its brilliance. "Even better."

Regina tried to hide a grin, but failed. "I'll pencil you in."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: This chapter is really short. More of a filler than anything. Sorry, but the last one was extremely long. So you're welcome for that.**

Chapter 5

If the waiting room didn't kill Emma, the dark cloud of doom surrounding Dare Cassidy just might. The bleach blonde hair and leather identified him as the infamous rock star he was, but the worry twisting his face with concern was a staunch reminder that he was only human and an utter wreck over his little brother's hospitalization. It was almost five a.m. Neal had been out of a successful surgery for a few hours now, but he was still sleeping off the anesthesia.

"Why won't they let us in to see him? David asked for the twentieth time. "I just want to see him."

"He needs his rest," Lacey said. "That's all." She produced a lion-sized yawn and scrubbed her face with both hands.

"It's not like I'm going to yank him out of the hospital bed and take him for a cruise down the Vegas strip. I just want to see hi. To know he's still fucking breathing."

Emma patted the back of David's hand. She understood all too well what David was feeling. Not that the blonde could express it. Every time she opened her mouth to tell David how it had felt to sit in a hospital waiting room while a loved one's life was in the hands of strangers, the white walls seemed to close in on her, and a paralyzing anguish stole her breath. David didn't need to hear that, and Emma didn't want to revisit it, so she just patted the back of David's hand every so often, hoping that he somehow realized that Emma was there to support him. She owed David her success—her entire livelihood.

None of her band mates knew how David had helped her become a part of Sinners. It had been David who had arranged Emma's audition with the band. David who had talked Neal into having the Sinners' original bassist, Millie, fired for drug abuse. David who had invented that bullshit story about Emma being considered as a replacement for Peter—The Lost Boys' bassist. Peter had never considered quitting The Lost Boys. It had been a setup. David claimed to have intervened because it was best for his little brother's band. The dude had a strong protective instinct when it came to Neal. Emma wondered if Neal realized how much his older brother cared about him, and how it would feel to have someone love you that much.

"I'm about to crash," Lacey said. "When is August supposed to get here and give us a break?"

"In a few hours," Emma said.

"You can go, Lacey," David said. "You've done enough for him."

Lacey smiled and then jumped to her feet. "I'm not pussing out now. Who needs coffee?"

"Yeah," David said absently.

"I'll take a cup," Emma said. She expected Lacey to twist her words into a barb, but she headed out of the room to find another dose of caffeine. Emma decided Lacey must be completely exhausted if she'd given up on wisecracks.

"I didn't talk to him about August." David said.

Emma looked at him in question. "What about August?"

"I should have talked to him. I should have checked on him to make sure he was okay."

Another thing Emma completely understood. A case of the "should haves." _I should have never stolen that car. I should have pushed Henry away. I should have never climbed out that window. I should have never been born._

"I should have talked him into going to the doctor sooner," David said.

"We tried to talk him into going to the doctor, David," Emma said.

"But he listens to me." David stroked his eyebrow with his middle finger. "Sometimes."

"We should have insisted. We knew he was hurt," Emma said.

More should haves.

Lacey returned with three Styrofoam cups between her long fingers. "What are you two grumbling about?" She handed a cup to David and then one to Emma, before taking a sip of her own.

"We should have gotten Neal help sooner," David said.

"Well we didn't. Now we have to deal with the consequences. No sense in beating yourself up over things you can't change. You have to make the best of the current situation," Lacey said.

"The current situation blows," David said.

Emma patted David's hand again. She understood. She still beat herself up over things she couldn't change years after they occurred. She couldn't imagine ever letting that guilt go.


	6. Chapter 6

**An: I felt bad for giving you guys such a short chapter earlier. Hopefully this makes up for it!**

Chapter 6

Obnoxious pounding on Regina's front door woke her before noon. She grabbed a pillow and buried her head beneath it. It muffled the persistent knocking, but not enough to let her go back to sleep. When the pounding intensified, she huffed loudly, kicked her covers aside, slipped a robe over her naked body, and stormed to the front door. Her mother stood on the threshold, glancing over her shoulder nervously.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked.

Mom pushed her way over the threshold, slammed the door behind her, and locked it. "I'm staying here for a few days. You got coffee?" She eyed the open door of the soundproof room where Regina worked over her clients. It had stood empty since Emma had left the night before.

Regina took Mom's elbow and led her through the connecting foyer into the living room. She continued through the family room to the kitchen, which was separated from the large, open room by a breakfast bar. "Why do you need to stay here? What did you do now?"

"Some men are looking for me. No big deal—just better if they don't find me. Mind if I smoke?"

Mom reached into her purse and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She thumped one out of the pack and put it between her bright pink lips.

"Actually, I do mind. Go smoke outside. I'll put on coffee."

Mom glanced over her shoulder toward the closed front door.

"I need to quit anyway." She put the cigarette back in the pack and went to close the reinforced door that separated the living room from the foyer. Regina usually left it open, unless she was expecting a client, but if it made her paranoid mother feel better, she'd keep it closed for added security.

Mom followed Regina to the kitchen and perched herself on a stool at the breakfast bar. Yawning, Regina started a pot of coffee brewing and leaned against the counter across from her mother,

"What's with you?" Mom asked. "You get laid or something?"

"Huh?" How on earth would her mother know that?

"You're walking all bowlegged."

"Shut up," Regina said. "I am not."

"If you say so." Mom gave her an appraising look, reached into her purse, and retrieved her pack of cigarettes again. "Men. Women. Jackasses. All of them."

Normally, Regina would agree, but she'd found one last night she kind of liked. One who apparently made her walk bowlegged. "They're not all bad."

Mom thumped another cigarette out of her pack, put it between her lips, and lit it. "Shit, you found a woman, didn't you?"  
Regina shrugged. "Not really."

Mom took a deep drag off her cigarette, smoke curling around her head as it floated to the ceiling. Regina really wished she wouldn't smoke in her house, but with this woman there were so many battles, Regina had to pick the ones she was willing to fight.

"Not _really?" _Mom lifted her penciled eyebrows at her. "What's her name? Is she nice?"

"There's no girl, Mom." Regina said, shaking her head. She was unwilling to tell her mother anything about Emma. Not even her name. She wouldn't describe how attractive she found the blonde or how her rare laugh warmed Regina's heart. And would especially never mention how the other woman fulfilled her sexually in a way no other woman ever had. She knew if she confided even the tiniest detail, her mother would point out everything negative, until Regina lost sight of how wonderful Emma was. Mom always did that.

"So what's going on with you?" Regina asked. Mom never showed up unless she needed something. Even when Regina had been a kid, her mother had been more absent from her life than present. The woman was always chasing one unlikely dream or another. Having a kid had never been a dream—more of a burden. She was far more likely to run from her parenting obligations than embrace them. Regina had come to terms with that years ago.

The coffee pot gurgles as it spewed the last of the brew into the carafe. The heady aroma of strong coffee perused the cozy kitchen. Regina turned to fill two mugs. She shoveled several spoonfuls of sugar into her mother's cup, taking her own black.

Her mother accepted the mug between her bony hands and took a sip. "I had this great idea to finally get you out of that strip club."

Regina rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? I like working there. I don't dance because I have to. I dance because I _want _to."

"Don't be ridiculous, Regina." She shook her head dismissively. "I bought a book on the internet."

"A book? What kind of book?"

"On how to win at slots. Guaranteed."  
"You didn't."  
"Yeah. And I tried out the method." She smiled brightly. "I won a couple grand."

"That's great. You can pay down your credit cards."

Mom took another drag off her cigarette. Slurped some coffee. Took her time about getting to the point. "So I thought if I can start with fifty bucks and make two thousand, then if I start with fifty thousand, I could make two million." She pointed her cigarette at Regina and offered her a wink. "I always was good at math."

Regina's heart sank. "What did you do, Mom?"

"Well, what do you think? I took out a loan and went to the casino. I kept thinking I would get ahead. I followed the book to the letter."

_Oh shit. _"How much did you lose?"  
Mom stared at the glowing tip of her cigarette. "Well, after I lost the first fifty grand-"

"Fifty grand!"

"I borrowed another fifty and..." She shrugged, took the last drag off her cigarette, and finding no available ashtray, crushed it on Regina's granite counter top.

"You lost a hundred thousand dollars in slots!"

"Oh, no no no no no," Mom said, shaking her head vigorously.

Regina sucked in a deep breath of relief.

"I only lost fifty grand in slots. The other fifty I lost at roulette." She smiled sweet as syrup.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" Regina shouted.

"I wanted to get you out of that club, sugar. That's all."

"_Mother_! Don't you dare try to make this my fault." Regina rubbed her face with both hands. She had a few thousand dollars in the bank and another grand in the sink in her master bathroom, but she'd just remodeled this house for her side business, so her liquid assets were minimal. No way could she come up with a hundred grand to pay off that loan. "Wait a minute." She pinned her mother with a hard stare. "Who in the hell would loan _you _money? Your credit is shit."

Mom shrugged, twisting her garish red hair around one finger. "Oh some guys."

"Some guys?"

She scrunched her eyebrows together and pursed her lips. "I think they're members of the Mafia," she whispered and glanced over her shoulder, as if expecting to see them standing behind her with sandy shovels.

_"What_?"

Mom flinched. "Don't you yell at me, young lady!"

Regina paced the galley area of the kitchen, chewing on the end of her finger. "When are you supposed to pay them back?"

"Soon."

"How soon?"

Mom cringed. "I do not like your tone Regina. Don't forget who you're talking to. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even exist."  
"How soon?"

"Three weeks ago." She tapped another cigarette out of the pack and lit it.

Regina found it impossible to close her mouth. Or breathe. "And you tell me this _now?"_ she sputtered finally.

"I know how busy you are. I didn't want to bother you with my little problems."

And now Regina was hyperventilating. "Little! I suppose you owe them interest as well."

"Of course. Who gives loans without charging interest?" Mom said and took a deep drag off cigarette number two. She pulled the butt from her mouth and stared at its glowing ember as she slowly exhaled and drew smoke into both nostrils.

"How much?"

"Twenty percent."

"Annually?"

Mom laughed, a billow of smoke erupting from her mouth. She lifted her brown-eyed gaze to Regina's. "They don't do annual loans, sugar. I really thought I'd be a high roller right now, with no problem paying everything back and setting up both of us for life—somewhere other than Vegas. I'm tired of Vegas. Aren't you?" She shrugged and took another drag off her cigarette. "How do you feel about Tahiti?"

"They're going to kill you, you stupid woman."

"How are they going to get their money out of a dead body? I'll figure something out. I always do. But until then, I don't want them to know where I am, so I'm visiting for a while. Okay?"

No, it wasn't okay, but what could she do? This was her mother—her ridiculous, stupid, exasperating mother. If she didn't love her so much, she'd strangle her.

And then she had that little problem of Emma coming over that evening. How was Regina going to hide her from the nosy woman? The last person on earth she wanted to introduce the blonde to was her mother.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Emma rang Regina's doorbell precisely at five. She stuffed her guilt trip to the back of her mind. She should be visiting Neal in the hospital, not seeking hot, all-encompassing sex from the most desirable woman on the planet. Neal had woken a few hours ago, but he wasn't back to normal just yet. He'd lost much of the mobility in both hands. Emma wasn't sure how to deal with that. She just needed to get Regina out of her system one more time, and she'd be fine. With her help, the blonde could concentrate on something other than the ache in her soul that was already building again. The matching ache in her groin was only a minor consideration.

The middle-aged, red-headed woman who answered the door looked her up and down suspiciously.

"What do you want with me?" she growled. Her eyes were the same chocolate brown as Regina's, bit this tough-looking broad was no Regina.

"Uh..." Thrown off her guard, Emma had lost her tongue.

"I ain't got it yet, Maynard. Keep your dick in your pants."

She slammed the door in the blonde's face.

Emma scratched her head. Checked to house number to assure herself this was Regina's house.

Who?

What?

The door opened again. Lovely Regina appeared wearing her leather dominatrix costume. The embroidered design on the corset was different. Last night it had been red roses. Today it had mint green humming birds.

Regina rolled her eyes at Emma."Sorry about that. My mother is visiting. Unexpectedly. Against my will. And better judgment."

The wetness Emma had been sporting most of the day had dried up. "Your mother?"

"You're just a client." Regina gave her a stern look.

Just a client. So that incredible intimacy they'd shared the night before, that connection the blonde had never experienced with anyone, hadn't meant anything to the darker woman? Why did that thought cut into Emma's heart? It wasn't as if she gave a shit. She didn't. She didn't give a shit about anything but her music. It was the only thing in her life that never let her down.

Regina took her hand and led her toward the soundproof room where she'd whipped the blonde so spectacularly the night before. And drawn blood. Emma shuddered at the memory.

"You know her?" Regina's mother stood in the foyer with her arms crossed over her chest, watching her daughter with disapproval.

"I told you I had a five o'clock appointment. Go back into the house."  
"I don't trust her, Regina, She looks suspicious. Like a member of the Mafia."

_Mafia? _Probably the leather jacket. Emma hurried into the room where Regina served her clients.

"She's not Mafia. Go away, Mother." Regina slid the sanctum's door closed behind her and bolted it. She turned to face Emma. "Sorry about that. She has..._ issues."_ She fluttered a hand.

Emma shrugged and looked at the floor. She wanted to leave. She couldn't do this with Regina's mother in the house, especially not after the woman had told her to keep her dick in her pants. Not that she had one, but still. The sole reason she was here was to fuck her daughter. Repeatedly and in excess.

"I should go," the blonde said quietly.

Regina moved to stand directly in front of her. Her large, succulent breasts entered Emma's line of sight. She licked her lips. The wetness in her pants was returning. This woman was positively luscious and chased every thought from Emma's head. Regina cupped her face in both hands and eased the blonde's gaze up to hers. "What's the matter?"

"Neal..."

"The guitarist in the hospital?"

Emma nodded. "I should go visit him."

"How's he doing?"

"He made it through surgery, and he's awake now. I should be with him."

"So he's okay then?"

Emma shook her head slightly. "He can't move his fingers right, or something."

"You can go see him later. He's probably resting."

"Yeah." Emma lowered her eyes to Regina's full, ruby red lips. "Resting." The blonde stared at her lips, mesmerized by her sensuality. Can I kiss you?" Her hands moved to rest on the flare of Regina's hips. She shifted the other woman closer.

"Are you staying for a while?"

Emma nodded. Even if she was just a customer today, she still wanted to be with the dark-haired woman.

"Then, yes. Kiss me, Emma." Regina said her name like a gentle caress. It made the blonde's heart ache.

_Don't pretend you care. Just don't._

Emma brushed her lips over Regina's. Her lips were soft. Yielding. Emma kissed her again. More deeply. She leaned a way and looked into Regina's eyes.

"I thought about you a lot today," she murmured, wiping at the corner of Emma's mouth with her thumb. The blonde was probably wearing half her lipstick by now.

Emma smiled. It felt natural to smile when she was with Regina. The blonde never felt that way with anyone. She always felt on guard, but not with Regina. With her Emma felt... safe? Comfortable? Understood? Something. "Oh, yeah?"

Regina nodded. "Did you think of me?"

"Constantly."

Regina tugged Emma's shirt over her head and bent to press her lips to the other woman's collarbone.

"I'm afraid to look at your back. Are you sore?" Regina's fingers trailed gently over her skin.

Emma had had a hard time crawling out of bed that afternoon, but she was ready for more now. "Not really. You're not going to take it easy on me, are you?"

"Whatever you want, baby. You'll do the same for me, won't you?"

She wouldn't ask Emma to hit her, would she? The blonde didn't have it in her.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Whatever you want to do to me—I trust you."

Emma's heart stumbled over a beat. Regina would give her the freedom to do whatever she wanted to her? Emma needed to get her to the tour bus. Her suitcase of pleasure-inducing implements was stored in a closet there. She'd been collecting things to inflict pleasure on a deserving lover for years. And every woman she'd tried to initiate had ultimately disappointed her.

Regina unbuttoned the fly of Emma's jeans. She squatted as she pushed the blonde's pants down her thighs. Regina placed a tender kiss on the inside of Emma's thigh.

Regina wandered over to her table and selected a paddle. She turned to look at Emma and winced when her gaze fell on her back. "You're really bruised," she murmured. Regina moved to stand behind her and traced the thick bands of damage along Emma's upper back. "The cane. Why didn't you tell me I was doing that much damage to you? I would have stopped."

"I didn't want you to stop. I needed it."

I'm not hitting you with a cane again," Regina said. "You'll have to settle for a good paddling this evening." She kissed Emma's shoulder and circled her body to face the blonde. Regina caressed the other woman's bare buttocks and then struck her on its fleshy cheek with her paddle.

It cracked against the blonde's tender flesh. Stinging pain shot through Emma's ass, settling as pleasure at the bottom of her stomach. That other pain—the pain in her heart, her soul—eased slightly. The only time it left her was when she was distracted by physical pain. The physical always hurt so much less than the emotional. It became a reprieve. Regina struck her again. Emma's toes curled in hr boots. Again. Her nipples tightened.

_Ah God, Regina. Hurt me._

_ Take the pain away. Hurt me._

Watching Emma's face, Regina struck her again and then kissed her deeply, her tongue mingling with the blonde's. Emma didn't usually experience the blend of pain and pleasure. In the past, she did her best to keep the two separate, But even the night before, Regina had given her what she needed and hadn't judged her for it. Emma's excitement mounted quickly. She wrapped her arms around Regina, tugging the woman against her and deepening the kiss.

Emma groaned in Regina's mouth when she struck the blonde again. Fuck, she was wet. She wanted Regina. No, more than that. She needed the darker woman.

Like she needed air.

Regina turned her head, breaking their kiss, and spanked Emma again.

"You like that?"

Emma couldn't form a coherent thought. "Huh?"

"A touch of pleasure with your pain?"

"Yeah."

Regina slid down Emma's body, settling on her knees at the blonde's feet. She licked the inside of Emma's thigh. The blonde shuddered, pleasure rippling through her flesh. Regina drew her clit into her warm mouth and sucked gently. When she struck Emma's ass again, the other woman cried out. Regina sucked her harder, adding a single finger inside of the blonde. She paused frequently to swat Emma, before returning to pleasuring the blonde with her mouth.

The sweet pain blended with agonizing pleasure until Emma couldn't take it anymore. She twisted her fingers into Regina's thick, silky, black hair and held the darker woman's head still. "Regina," she whispered. "Don't. I can't. Too much."

Regina then added another finger to the one already inside the other woman. She twisted her fingers. Emma's stomach roiled as the pleasure/pain left her breathless. Regina pulled her fingers out, and while Emma breathed through the pain, the dark-haired woman thrust three fingers back inside of the blonde and spread them apart, still sucking Emma's clit into her mouth. Emma forced her hands from the other woman's hair, knowing she'd pull and hurt Regina if she got too excited. And Regina was quickly getting her way too excited.

Emma looked down at the other woman, submissive at her feet, her mouth on her clit, and her fingers deep inside the blonde.

"Oh fuck." Emma gasped, her breath catching. She shifted her gaze to the mirror across the room. Regina's waist-length hair swayed against her back as she pulled back, sucked the blonde harder, and pulled back again.

Settling the paddle on the floor, Regina removed her mouth and fingers from Emma. As Regina stood from her position on the floor, Emma gazed at her curvy figure appreciatively. Regina looked directly into Emma's bottle green eyes and licked her lips. "I want you to fuck me."

Emma tugged her boots off and kicked her jeans aside. She glanced around. "There's no bed in here."

"No, but there's a table."

Emma grabbed the other woman by the waist and pulled her across the room.

After she removed Regina's panties, she perched on the edge of the table. Emma squatted between her legs and suckled her clit until Regina was dripping wet. Her scent drove Emma crazy. She inhaled deeply through her nose while she lapped at the other woman's sweet nectar, the blonde's tongue dancing over her slick flesh. Regina's excited breaths, hitching in the back of her throat, alerted Emma to her impending orgasm. She carefully inserted three fingers into Regina's body. The dark-haired woman's back arched, and she shifted her hips off the table to drive the blonde's fingers deeper, holding most of her weight with her arms. Her heat engulfed Emma. The blonde groaned, bracing herself with her feet and using her hips to put more force into her thrusts. Regina shifted back onto the edge of the table, and Emma surged forward with her full weight to fill her again.

"Emma," Regina whispered breathlessly.

Emma thrust her fingers into her slowly and watched the woman's reactions as the blonde methodically increased her tempo. When Emma found the darker woman's perfect rhythm, evident by her writhing and mewing, the blonde maintained it relentlessly, drawing on the same consistent cadence that served her music.

Regina reached behind herself and grabbed a flail off the table. She struck Emma lightly across the chest. Each of the dozen slender strands released delicious stings in the blonde's flesh. Her breath caught. She pushed into Regina harder. Regina met her thrusts with lashes—matching both Emma's rhythm and her intensity. The harder Emma fucked her, the harder Regina struck her. Emma pounded into the other woman harder and harder. She let the excitement carry her, losing all conscious control of her motion, giving her craving fro pain full control over her attainment of pleasure. How did Regina know exactly what she needed? Quickly, her need for release built to the breaking point. She straddled Regina's thigh and rubbed herself against in relentlessly.

Emma forced her eyes open to look at Regina. Was the darker woman close to orgasm yet? Regina's entire body shook with each hard thrust of Emma's fingers, her beautiful tits jiggling each time their bodies came together. Emma's chest was raw and red from the lashes of Regina's perfect retaliation. Her mouth fell open with wonder as Emma watched. Regina was closer than the blonde had realized.

"Look at me," Emma demanded.

Regina pried her eyes open, and their gazes locked. Emma added a fourth finger inside Regina, rubbing the woman's clit with her thumb and sending Regina flying over the edge.

"Emma!" she screamed.

As her pussy clenched around Emma's fingers, the blonde let go. Her body tensed, squirting onto Regina's warm thigh between her own legs, while the blonde's body shuddered uncontrollably. She held Regina's gaze the entire time, knowing how emotionally vulnerable that made her, but with Regina, it seemed right.

Spent, Emma collapsed against the other woman's trembling body. Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde and rocked her hips back and forth, continuing to find pleasure int eh other woman's fingers still inside of her.

"Oh God, Emma," she murmured. "I'll never get enough of you."

Emma would never get enough of her either, which was a problem as far as the blonde was concerned. She tangled her hands in Regina's long silky hair, knowing the dark-haired woman deserved far more pleasure than Emma had given her. With Regina flailing her like that, she'd gotten too excited to treat the other woman with proper care and attention. What she had in mind for Regina next would make up for that, she hoped.

"Do you wanna go somewhere with me?" Emma asked, leaning over Regina to kiss her shoulder.

"Yeah, okay," she said. "Where are we going?"

Emma rose up on her arms above Regina and stared down into her flushed face. Regina pouted when she saw the mess she'd made of Emma's chest. Her gentle touch was intoxicating as she traced the crisscrossing welts on Emma's skin, drawing memories of the pain tot he forefront of her mind again. Emma caught her wrists, and Regina looked up at her.

"The tour bus. I want to show you true bliss."

"True bliss? Wasn't that what I just experienced?"

Emma chuckled. "Baby, that was just a warm-up."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Regina snuggled closer to Emma's back, her hands pressed flat against the blonde's abdomen. The dark-haired woman loved motorcycles. Especially low-pitched, rumbling Harleys. Foreplay on wheels.

They drove down the Vegas strip. The summer evening air was stifling, yet the crowds were still thick on the sidewalks and the traffic heavy. The tourists would really come out to play after dark. Regina had lived in Las Vegas her entire life, and the city's ceaseless excitement still stirred her. Emma turned into the area behind Mandalay Bay at the southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard and stopped next to a set of three tour buses. Emma parked beside a silver and black bus and held Regina's hand while she climbed from the bike.

Regina removed her helmet, her long, thick hair cascading over her shoulders and down her back. She flipped it out of her face impatiently. "We need to drive into the desert and have an orgy on this bike."

Emma removed her helmet, smiling to herself. "I think that can be arranged."

"Now?" Regina asked breathlessly.

"I have other plans for you now. Next time."

_Next time? _Regina wasn't big on planning the future, especially if it required relying on another person, but she'd make concessions for Emma.

The blonde swung the bus door open and climbed the steep steps. Glancing down the corridor, Emma ushered her inside with a wave. The inside was nicer than Regina had expected. A plush, leather sofa faced two captain's chairs, a flat-screen TV, and a stereo system. Farther down the main corridor, a kitchenette stood opposite a small, square table and booths. Beyond the dining area there were two stacked curtained compartments on each side. As Emma continued down the hallway, she swept each curtain aside to reveal four empty bunks.

"I don't think anyone's here," the blonde said.

The bathroom door stood partially open. No one in there either. Emma knocked on the door at the end of the hall. When there was no response, she opened the door to reveal a small bedroom. Emma switched on the light, and Regina entered the room, glancing around. A comfortable looking queen-sized bed filled over half the room. A closet, overflowing with clothes, bedding, and towels filled one wall. A long dresser stood next to the door, and a small window was situated on the wall opposite the closet. A hook in the ceiling caught Regina's eye.

"That's for you," Emma whispered into her ear.

"For me?"

"You'll see. What do you want to drink?"  
The blonde's dichotomous personality always surprised Regina. Emma had a gentle, considerate side that so completely contrasted with the animal just beneath the surface. An angel and a devil. Strange thing was, Regina liked both—the side that warmed her heart with affection and the side that burned her body with lust. "Do you have any wine?"

Emma grinned. "A woman after my own heart. I hope you like it sweet."

"Is there any other kind?"

"I have some port on the other bus. I'll be right back. Make yourself comfortable." She kissed Regina's cheek and left her to herself.

Regina removed her leather jacket, folding it carefully and setting it on the dresser. She contemplated removing her clothes and waiting for Emma naked, but decided she liked the blonde to undress her. Slowly. Seductively. With great care and tenderness. In the silence, a faint hum came from the side table drawer. Her brow knitted with confusion, she went to investigate. Pulling the drawer open, she found it full of sex toys. Dildos of all sizes and thicknesses. Vibrators. Condoms. Flavored oils. Cock rings. Butt plugs. Was this why Emma had brought her here? She found the humming vibrator and turned it off before dropping it back into the drawer.

"You don't like that kind of thing?" Emma asked from behind her.

Regina spun around. "Sorry to pry. One of the vibrators was humming. I followed the sound." She nodded toward the drawer. "Is all that stuff yours?"

Emma shook her head. "It's August's. He likes toys. He doesn't mind sharing though, if you want to borrow something."

"Who's August?" Regina accepted the glass of wine the blonde held out to her.

"Our lead guitarist. I take it you're not a Sinners fan. Everyone knows August 'Master' Booth. He's a rock god. Killian, our lead singer, is a notorious womanizer. Neal plays rhythm guitar and any person—male or female—who catches his attention. And then there's Lacey, who... is our drummer. I'm obscure by comparison."

"You sure about that? You're awfully cute."

Emma flushed. "Killian's the one all the girls scream for. He's a beast."

"Like you?" Regina grinned, taking a sip of wine—perfectly delicious. "Mmmm." She looked down into her glass. Thick, the wine clung to the inner surface of her glass. It reminded her of blood. She took another sip, holding the cool liquid in her mouth. Its flavor soured as it warmed on the surface of her tongue. She swallowed.

"I'm a whole different type of beast."

Regina glanced up at Emma. The coldness in the blonde's eyes sent a shiver down her spine. Emma downed her wine in two gulps and set her glass on the dresser. She went to the closet and pulled a hard-shell, black suitcase from its depths. The blonde knelt in front of it on the floor.

Regina moved to stand beside her, looking at the suitcase. "What's that?"

"The reason I brought you here."

Emma flipped the locks and tossed the lid open. Regina's eyes widened. The blonde had all kinds of things inside, ranging from obvious paddles and candles to thing she couldn't identify.

Emma looked at her. "You still trust me, right?"

The anxious flutter in Regina's stomach excited her. She had no idea what the blonde had in mind, but whatever it was, she was game. Emma had yet to disappoint her. "Yeah."

Emma began to sort through the case, arranging things in piles. Regina couldn't decipher any pattern in the blonde's groupings as she watched her, sipping her wine. Emma lit candles, setting them on the side table. She left the room and returned moments later with a bowl of ice, a bottle of chocolate syrup, and a can of mixed fruit.

"What are you doing? Preparing for nuclear winter?"

Emma smiled shyly. "You'll see. How's the wine?"

"Perfect."

"Do you want another glass?" The blonde seemed ready to start her orchestrated pleasure session. Or would it be torture? Regina was eager to find out.

Regina finished her wine in one long swallow and set her glass next to Emma's. "No, I don't want any more wine. I want you."

"Soon." Emma closed the bedroom door and approached her. She undressed Regina slowly, caressing every inch of flesh she revealed, first with her fingertips, and then her lips. The blonde's tenderness never ceased to amaze Regina. Emma fucked her hard. Made love to her gently. "You're so beautiful," the blonde murmured as she unhooked Regina's bra. "I love your curves."

She had plenty of curves. Regina had never possessed the athletic slenderness that Hollywood and fashion runways considered beautiful, but she was comfortable with her body and glad that Emma appreciated it. Her dancing kept her in good shape, but her feet never touched a treadmill. Regina's heavy breasts fell free of her bra, and Emma cupped them, gazing at the flesh overflowing from her hands.

The blonde lowered her head to kiss the soft globes, her tongue sliding over Regina's nipples. Regina's belly tightened. She rested her hands on Emma's shoulders as the other woman kissed her way down the center of Regina's belly. Emma removed Regina's jeans, panties, and sandals with equal care and agonizing slowness. By the time she led Regina to the bed, the darker woman was more than ready for Emma to possess her body, and the blonde hadn't even started using the objects from her suitcase.

They knelt in the center of the bed, facing each other. Emma pulled something from her back pocket and fastened it around Regina's left wrist. She looked down at the thick leather cuff, lined with fleece. Regina's heart thudded against her ribs. Restraints? Emma fastened a matching leather cuff around her other wrist and attached the to each other with a length of chain.

"Why are you restraining me?" Regina asked.

"So you don't interfere with what I do to your body."  
Regina's heart thudded even harder. "Are you going to hurt me?"  
Emma stood in front of her on the bed and lifted Regina's hands above her head, securing her wrists to the hook in the ceiling with the heavy chain. The blonde didn't answer her question.

"Emma, I don't like to be on the receiving end of pain. Only inflict it." Regina supposed if she got too freaked out, she could stand on the bed and free her hands from the hook. She was well versed in self-defense, but something inside told her she could trust this woman. Her intuition had never failed her in the past.

Emma knelt in front of her and touched her cheek gently. "I'd never hurt you, Regina. I only like to be on the receiving end of pain. Never inflict it." The blonde stroked Regina's arms with the backs of her hands, and then continued down to draw them along the sides of her breasts, the indent of her waist, and the flare of her hips. "I do plan to make you beg for mercy, but from the pleasure I give your body, not pain."

Well, okay... if she insisted.

"Do I have your permission to continue?" Emma asked.

Regina bit her lip, looking into the blonde's gentle green eyes for signs of deceit. She found none. "Yes."

"Good."

Emma pulled something else from her back pocket and slid a blindfold over Regina's eyes.

"I can't see," she said breathlessly. Her heart thudded faster. She wasn't afraid, not exactly. Excited. Yes, that's what had her breath hitching, her heart racing, her core aching with emptiness.

Emma chuckled. "That's the idea, sweetheart. You don't need to see. Just feel. Feel me, Regina."

"I do. I feel you."

Emma gathered Regina's hair in her hand, twisted it, and clipped it to the back of her head.

"Your skin is so soft," Emma murmured into her ear from behind, The blonde's hands gently stoked her back... her belly... her breasts. "Smooth. Warm."

"Pale," Regina added with a grin.

"Perfect."

Emma suckled and kissed the flesh on the backs of her shoulders while the blonde's hands continued to stroke her belly, breasts and hips. Her hands slid between Regina's thighs, spreading the other woman's legs apart. Regina trembled. Emma's fingers parted the darker woman's swollen flesh and dipped inside her. Regina's head fell back against the blonde's shoulder. Emma rubbed her clit, slid her fingers into her pussy, rubbed her clit again. How did she know exactly how to excite Regina beyond her limits of tolerance?

"Emma."

The blonde continued to stroke her until she was ready to explode, and then Emma moved away, leaving Regina trembling. Unfulfilled.

Something ice cold down down Regina's spine. She shuddered. I continued down the crack of her ass, over the aching opening to her pussy, and finally her clit. Emma stroked her there, with the ice between her fingers and Regina's flesh, until the ice completely melted. Regina didn't know ho it was possible for her clit to feel like it was on fire and frozen at the same time.

"Emma," she said in a pleading tone.

Emma slid two of her fingers into Regina's mouth. They tasted like chocolate. Regina sucked the sweet treat from the blonde's digits. Emma withdrew them and inserted them again with more chocolate. Something cool and thick drizzled over Regina's nipple. Emma's hot mouth sucked at her nipple while she continued to thrust her fingers in and out of Regina's mouth. Did the blonde realize what she was doing to her? Regina ached from wanting Emma already. Emma had likely restrained her hands above her head so she couldn't get herself off while the blonde tortured her with pleasure. Regina was definitely desperate enough to do it.

Emma moved away again, and Regina heard a strange grinding sound. Her heart rate kicked up a notch until she identified it as a can opener. Hadn't the blonde brought a can of fruit...?

Something cool and slick slid into Regina's mouth. The gritty bite of sweet pear dissolved on her tongue. She smelled wax the instant before liquid heat burned down the center of her back. Her spine arched involuntarily. Emma traced either side of the hot trail with ice. The blonde's mouth moved to suck on the side of Regina's neck. Only her mouth wasn't as hot as expected. It was cold. Emma let the water from the melting ice trickle from her lips as she kissed her way down Regina's throat and shoulder. Thin rivulets of water traced paths down her chest, following the contours of the dark-haired woman's body to collect between her thighs. Regina shuddered when the first droplets found her shaved mound.

"Emma." She'd given up on trying to figure out what the other woman was going to do next.

Emma paused to put more ice in her mouth. Regina heard her slurp it inside, and it clicked against the blonde's teeth. As the water dripped between Regina's legs and found new paths along her hip bone, she squirmed with impatience. Emma shifted her mouth to the other side of the darker woman's neck and used the flat of her hands to stroke her belly and the undersides of her breasts. The blonde pinched Regina's nipple unexpectedly, and she shuddered on the brink of orgasm.

"Emma, fuck me, please. I want you. I want you inside me."

Emma moved away abruptly. Regina listened to the sounds of the blonde's movement. A slice of peach entered her mouth. She sucked on it, savoring its slick sweetness. She waited for Emma's return. It seemed like hours before the blonde's hands were on her again. They had an unusually rough texture now. Emma stroked the skin of Regina's belly and breasts gently with her gloved hands while she blew soft breaths over the skin of her back.

"Oh God, Emma. You're driving me insane."

"Do you want me to stop?" The low timber of her voice made Regina's spine tingle.

"Yes." She gasped when Emma drew her hands away. "No. Don't! Don't stop."

Emma curled her body against Regina's back. Regina felt the blonde's wetness against her ass, and she rubbed up against Emma, arching her back in an attempt to get some friction. Emma's rough gloves moved between her thighs, pressing them open so the cool air bathed her heated flesh.

"Hold still," the blonde murmured.

Regina tried to hold still, but the neglected parts of her body were greedy for Emma's touch. Regina twisted her hips and rubbed her mound against the hand the blonde had stroking her inner thigh. She sucked a shuddering breath between her teeth. Emma slapped her ass with a loud smack. Regina's entire body tensed.

"No, Regina. Hold still."

"Emma. Please. I can't take any more."

Emma moved away again, and Regina choked back a sob of protest. Something tickled her shoulder blade. _A feather? _And then nothing. When the dark-haired woman had given up on Emma ever touching her again, the blonde traced her lowest rib with the feather. Regina groaned. An eternity later, Emma stoked her hip bone. Regina fought her chains, her hips undulating involuntarily as she sought fulfillment.

The door opened. Two rapid inhalations came from the general vicinity of the threshold.

Emma slipped something into Regina's mouth. It burst against her tongue, releasing sweet juice. White grape. Regina swallowed, her ears straining for sounds that would tell her what was going on beyond her perception.

The door closed again.

"Who was that?" Regina whispered.

"Killian and Tina. Looks like they're back together."

"Are they in here with us?"

Emma chuckled. "No baby. They left."

The mattress beside Regina sagged.

She leaned toward the blonde, disappointed when she found nothing but empty space beside her. "Are you going to let me off the hook?"

Emma wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her from her knees. Regina's hands came loose from the chain above her head.

The dark-haired woman chuckled. "I didn't mean literally. Are you finished torturing me with pleasure then?"  
Emma massaged Regina's hands, returning circulation to her fingers. The blonde kissed each fingertip, sucking gently, before massaging each knuckle with a gentle pressure. Regina hadn't even realized her hands were numb. Every sense was tuned to pleasure. Discomfort didn't register. "Do you want me to be done?" Emma asked.

That was a difficult question to answer. Emma played her body like a mastered instrument. Within a few minutes, Regina knew she'd be begging the blonde to fuck her again. "I'm not sure. How long are you going to make me wait before you give me what I need?"

"I don't know. I've never had a woman make it this long before."

So if she led out for a while longer, that would make her special to the blonde. Is that what Emma was hinting at? Her lips brushed a sensitive spot below Regina's ear. The darker woman turned her face toward the blonde and inhaled her scent. A hint of cinnamon. A heap of hot female.

"I'm pretty sure I can keep going for hours," Emma whispered. Her quiet voice toyed with the nerve endings in the skin along Regina's spine. She wanted more of the blonde—her scent, her taste, her voice. The tools she used to excite Regina were exceptional, but the woman in charge held a far greater appeal.

"Hours?"

"If you want me to." Emma sucked her earlobe into her mouth, still rubbing Regina's hands. Her fingers were tingling now.

Emma pushed her back down on the bed. "Put your arms over your head," she murmured, sliding her hands up Regina's arms as the other woman obeyed. The blonde fastened her restraints over her head and then grabbed Regina's hips to pull her down the bed and make the chain taut. "Lift your hips for me."

Regina was used to issuing the orders, not taking them. Why was she so willing to submit to this woman? Because she knew the blonde was going to make it worth her while, that's why.

When she lifted her hips, Emma slid a couple of pillows under her lower back, tilting the darker woman's pelvis up and lifting her butt off the bed. With one hand on each thigh, the blonde spread Regina's legs apart.

"If you stay like that, I won't restrain your legs."

Regina chuckled. "I already know I won't be able to stay like this once you get to work."

Emma's nails scraped her inner thigh. A smooth fabric soothed the slight sting, and then a cool tongue traced the same path. The blonde repeated the action on the other thigh—sharp, smooth, cool. It reminded Regina how achy she felt as it directed her attention to the emptiness between her thighs. Something hot trickled over one hip bone and then the other. The dark-haired woman sucked a sharp breath through her teeth. Paraffin. She could smell it. The liquid heat burned a path above her mound as if the blonde were framing her throbbing pussy with a triangle of wax. A single crop of hot wax splashed on Regina's pubis. Emma's finger traced a path around the drop, drawing her attention to the cooling substance until it hardened, and Regina couldn't feel it any longer. A second drop of wax near the first—more tracing.

"Emma."

Another splash of hot wax. This time Emma traced the drop with ice. Regina gyrated, desperately fighting the urge to clamp her legs together and rub her clit between her swollen labia to get off.

"Hold still."

"I'm trying." Regina gasped. "This makes me want you."

She felt Emma move away and heard the candle being set on the table. Ice clinked, and then the blonde moved between Regina's legs, spreading them wide and holding them open with her shoulders. Emma's fingers held her labia open, and the first drop of ice-cold water struck Regina's clit. She jerked.

"Shh. Hold still." Emma's words were garbled around the ice in her mouth. Her aim was remarkable. Each drop struck Regina's overstimulated clit, but sought a different pathway over her lips, opening, and ass. Drip. Drip. Drip. Emma's sweet torture was too much to bear. Regina shifted her legs from the blonde's shoulders and clamped her thighs on her head. Digging her feet into Emma's back, Regina pulled the blonde's face into her pussy.

"Ah God, lick it, Emma. Suck it."

Emma worked an ice cube inside Regina with her tongue. The dark-haired woman shuddered.

"Fuck me, please. Please. Please. Please. Fuck me."  
Emma pulled Regina's legs apart to free her head.

"I guess you aren't ready for the entire sequence yet," the blonde said. "Maybe next time?"  
There was more?

Emma released Regina from the chain above her head. Regina reached for her blindfold, but Emma flipped her onto her stomach, shoved her face into the mattress, and entered her with three fingers. Regina cried out, an orgasm shaking her core. She rocked back to meet Emma's deep thrusts, the darker woman's juices and the melting ice dripping down her thighs. Regina had never needed to be fucked so badly in her life. And Emma was giving her exactly what she needed. Her wrists were still joined by the restraints, so she moved both hands between her thighs, rubbing her clit, trembling uncontrollably. Cool, slippery fingers massaged her anus, slipped inside. Again. Lubricating her ass. Oh, yes. Regina wanted it there too. Emma pulled her fingers out, and before Regina could protest, the blonde spread her ass cheeks and plunged two fingers into her ass.

She gasped.

Emma hesitated. "You okay?"  
Regina hoped her indiscernible moans sounded like agreement. Emma pulled back slowly. Just in as far as the blonde's first knuckle, Regina lunged back against her, taking Emma's fingers deep again. "Oh God, Emma. Fuck my ass. Yes. Fuck every inch of me."

Emma slid three fingers back into Regina's pussy, pulling her hair as the blonde thrust into both orifices relentlessly.

"More. Please, more."

Emma pulled out.

"No!" Regina cried desperately.

Emma pulled her fingers out of Regina's pussy and replaced it with something thick, long, and cold. Some sort of phallus, with a second attachment that touched the darker woman's clit. The device hummed to life, vibrating against Regina's clit, and writhing inside her body. "Oh," she purred.

Emma buried two fingers in her ass again. "Is that enough for you?"

Regina couldn't respond. She was coming too hard. And screaming. She couldn't stop screaming. Regina wasn't sure how long Emma kept her like that, bucking against the blonde, taking everything she had to give and craving more. Regina collapsed eventually, trembling with a mixture of fulfillment and exhaustion.

"You done?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Regina whispered breathlessly. "Yes. Yes... thank you."

Emma pulled out and removed the churning vibrator from Regina's body. Regina rolled onto her side and watched the blonde. She didn't come yet. Emma hadn't followed her down the road to bliss this time. Regina realized it was because while the other woman had given her what she needed, Regina hadn't done the same for her. Emma needed pain to come.

"Come here," Regina murmured drowsily.

Emma pointed toward the exit. "I'm just going to-"

"Come here," Regina demanded.

When Emma was within reach, Regina tugged her onto the bed. Flattening the blonde on her back, Regina sucked her clit into her mouth, sucking Emma hard. As she pleasured Emma with her mouth, Regina ran her sharp nails down the blonde's chest and abdomen. The pain soon had Emma gasping with excitement.

"Regina," she whispered, her fingers tangling in the darker woman's hair. "Regina, you're gonna make me come."  
Well, _yeah, _that was the idea.

Regina bobbed her head faster, sucked harder, scratched rhythmically. Emma's unexpected, excited vocalizations started to excite Regina again. Two minutes ago she would have said she'd had enough orgasms in the past half hour to last her a lifetime. She was already reevaluating that analysis. Emma cried out and pulled Regina's head away as she squirted with release. Her cum staining the sheets below.

Regina watched in confusion. "Why didn't you let me have that?"

Emma took a deep breath and lifted her head to look at her. "You wanted it?"

"I begged you to fuck me in the ass, Emma. That requires a fair amount of intimacy."

"You were so turned on I could have done anything I wanted to you."

Regina grinned and then laughed, remembering where she'd been only minutes before. "True."

She settled beside Emma, her head resting on the blonde's shoulder, her fingers toying with a pert nipple. Emma's breathing slowed and became even.

"Emma?" the dark-haired woman whispered.

"Hmm," Emma murmured drowsily.

"I think you should know that I don't take many lovers."  
"Really? Why's that?"  
"As a rule, I don't like women"

"So you're not a lesbian? Could have fooled me."

Regina laughed. "That's not what I meant. I'm around men and women all the time and see what they're like—doesn't do much for my libido. You, on the other hand, have me set on full throttle."

"I'm...glad." The blonde snored softly as she succumbed to her exhaustion.

Regina slapped her belly, and Emma grunted awake.

"I'm having a moment here," the darker woman said.

"Sorry. What do you want me to say?"  
"I don't know. What are you thinking?"

"I like this—whatever this is between us."

Regina grinned. "I like it too."

"Can I sleep now?"  
"For a little while. I want to see if I can take your pleasure torture longer next time."  
"You did pretty good the first time." She stroked Regina's hair.

A woman's cries of sexual excitement carried from the front of the bus through the bedroom door. Regina lifted her head.

"What was that?"  
"Tina, I presume."  
A deep voice answered the higher pitched cries of ecstasy.

"And Killian. I guess they really are back together."  
Regina had completely forgotten they'd barged in earlier. They'd seen her defenseless and needy. Now that she had regained her wits, it bothered her. It was bad enough that Emma had seen her that way—so unlike herself. So powerless, she'd actually begged. "I should probably go. I have several sessions tonight." She'd feel better after she made a few submissives lick her boots.

Emma lifted her head to look at her. "Sessions?"  
"Mm-hmm." Regina trailed a finger down the blonde's belly between the bumps that made up her six-pack. This girl's body really was amazing in so many ways. And that sexually inventive mind of hers? _Oh, my God. _"If you stop by later tonight, I'll treat you to a free session. Around midnight?"

Emma could feel herself already getting wet at the idea.

"Were you serious when you said you don't fuck clients?" the blonde asked.

Why had she asked Regina that? "You're the first. I'm not sure what it is about you that made me break my own rules."

Emma eased from under her body and climbed to her feet. "I need to go visit Neal in the hospital now."  
From the outer cabin of the bus, Tina and Killian's vocalizing came to an abrupt end. Emma slid into her jeans and opened the door. "Is it safe to come out now?" she called down the corridor.

Why did Regina get the feeling the blonde was trying to escape? Typical—gets what she wants in the bedroom and then loses interest. Regina was going to whip her good for this.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Emma couldn't breathe. Face firmly lodged between some fan girl's huge tits, no amount of struggling secured the blonde's release. Had it been Regina trying to suffocate Emma with her succulent breasts, the blonde wouldn't have minded as much. She hadn't realized visiting Neal in the hospital might be life threatening.

"Oh Emma, you're sooooo cute," the young woman squealed at the tip of her lungs. Killian somehow got a hand between Emma's forehead and fan girl's cleavage and pried the blonde loose.

Emma gulped air greedily. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Killian said in typical Irish brogue.

This time Emma stuck close to Killian and Tina as they pushed their way through the crowd of Neal's concerned fans and eventually made it to Neal's private room.

They found him, Lacey, and their live sound engineer, Archie, sitting hip to hip in the hospital bed watching some porn video on the band's laptop. When the bed mates had noticed Tina had entered the room, Neal slammed the computer closed on Lacey's hand. Archie sprang from the bed and was out the door within seconds. It didn't take long to figure out what had them freaking out. They had been watching _The Video_. Granted, it would be upsetting for most chicks to see themselves getting drilled on the internet, when they'd been unaware that someone was filming, but what did she expect? She and Killian had been having sex in public. That kind of made it fair game as free internet porn. Lacey seemed to be the only one to understand her over-the-top angst. When Tina stormed out of the room with tears flying, it was Lacey who suggested Killian go after her.

When Killian raced out of the room in pursuit, Emma said, "I think she was upset."  
"You think?" Lacey said. She shook her head. "We shouldn't have watched it."

"Yeah, we should have," Neal said. "That was one of the hottest fucking things I've ever seen in my life. Jesus Christ, no wonder Killian wants her so badly. She's a sex goddess. I wouldn't mind tapping that every night for the rest of my life."

Lacey shook her head slightly. "But us watching it hurt her."  
Neal laughed at Lacey's obvious upset. "Dude, you are such a pussy when it comes to other women. That's why they walk all over you, you know."

Emma glanced at Lacey. She'd never seen Lacey with a woman, or a man for that matter, long enough to witness her getting walked over. Lacey tended to avoid anything remotely resembling a romantic relationship. Hell, the Aussie rarely engaged in sex. Usually watched and only participated if she was sure the woman wasn't truly interested in her for anything other than leftovers. The only exception was Ruby. Ruby had only wanted August, no matter how touchy-feely Lacey had gotten. Had that been Lacey's attraction to her? Knowing Ruby would never really be interested in her, so it was safe, to pine away for the other woman?

Lacey scowled at Emma. "What the fuck are you looking at, Princess?"  
Emma lowered her gaze to the floor, hiding the defiance she knew would be in her eyes. "Nothing."

"That's what I thought."

Emma shifted her gaze to Neal. "How are you feeling? Are they going to let you out of here soon?"

Neal lifted his hand and tried to make a fist. His hand didn't even close halfway. "That's how I'm feeling, Emma. Fucked up and pissed off. Whatever. I'm getting out of here tomorrow. I don't give a shit what my doctor says."  
Emma nodded. She didn't want Neal in here any more than he wanted to stay.

"Don't be an idiot," Lacey said. "You'll stay in the hospital until you're better."

"These places kill people." Emma bit her lip. She hadn't meant to say that, but she couldn't help but get lost in her past when confronted by such blatant reminders,

"This place saved Neal's life," Lacey said, slim auburn brows drawing together over her piercing blue eyes. "I'm the only one who had to witness his fucking seizure. I almost had a heart attack when Neal stopped breathing ad pissed himself."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd keep that 'pissed himself' part to yourself," Neal murmured.

Lacey placed a hand on Neal's brow and brushed his bangs off his forehead. "That is nothing to be ashamed of, brother. I thought you were dead. It was the least of my concerns."

"I would have been dead if you hadn't called the ambulance."

"You were coming around by the time they got there. I performed CPR on you for like twenty minutes, dude."

Emma's eyes widened. She hadn't realized what Lacey had done foe Neal. Emma wondered if she would have gone to the same lengths to save Neal or just curled into the fetal position and hid, as she had when her foster mother had died.

Neal grinned crookedly. "So that's why I've been tasting tequila since I woke up. Was it really necessary to give me tongue?"

Lacey laughed. "Hey, I know you like that kind of thing. I thought it might revive you."

"You gave him tongue?" Emma's nose curled. Lacey and Neal were as close as brother and sister. Even the thought of them doing that. Ugh.

Lacey rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and shook her head. "No, I didn't really give him tongue. Jeez, dude, do you have any sense of humor at all?"

Emma had a hard time figuring out when Lacey was being serious and when she was joking. The blonde would probably do better if she erred on the side of joking. The chick was rarely serious.

"I knew you were joking," Emma said.

"Whatever."  
"I'm bored. Let's watch Killian and Tina's video again," Neal said.

Archie peeked in the door. "Lacey, are you ready to do?" he whispered loudly.

"Killian and Tina left," Lacey said, waving Archie back into the room. "It's safe."  
Archie stepped into the room, glancing around cautiously. "Was Killian pissed at us for watching that?"

"Killian?" Neal asked. "Nah, I'm sure he's proud of it. Tina, on the other hand..."

"She ran out crying," Emma said. "Killian went after her."

"If she was upset. Then Killian will be upset too," Archie said.

The four exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

"Fine," Neal said. "We won't watch it again." He sighed loudly.

"A shame really," Lacey muttered. "Excellent masturbation material. I just don't want to upset Tina. She's a good woman."

Emma had never given Tina much thought. She was gorgeous. No mistake about that, but she didn't know her well enough to judge her character. There must be something pretty great about her if she could keep Killian interested for two years, even while absent.

"Where have you been all day, Emma?" Archie asked. "We wanted to borrow your bike earlier, but couldn't find you."

Emma flushed, thoughts returning to Regina. "Sorry, I was..."  
Neal chuckled, "She was getting laid. Look at her blush."  
Emma's already hot cheeks burned even more.

Archie nudged her with his elbow. "Good looking chick?"  
"Perfect."

"How much did you pay her?" Lacey chided.

Emma was pretty sure her face was about to burst into flames. "Uh... a grand."

"You _paid_ for it?" Neal asked. "Dude, I can hook you up with any chick you want. Don't ever pay for pussy."  
Emma's defenses rose. "Not the sex. I didn't pay her for that part."

"Then what?" Archie asked, looking puzzled.

Emma shook her head. She was unwilling to share this part of herself with the guys, and Lacey. They'd think she was a freak. Lacey grabbed her in a headlock and pulled the back of her shirt up. Archie gasped as he took in what must have been a matrix of bruises, welts, and scratches.

Lacey poked a bruise with one finger. "Just as I thought. Dude, if you want someone to hit you, just ask. I'd love to knock you around."

Neal laughed. "Careful. You'll make her wet, Lacey."

Emma's hard fist to Lacey's ribs gained her release.

"Ow, _fuck, _you hit hard." Lacey grabbed her side, wincing in pain.

Emma felt immediate remorse for hurting her. "Sorry."

"So you paid some guy to beat you up?" Archie asked, perplexity written in every confused line of his face.

Neal burst out laughing. "Uh no, Archie. Hanging around us, you'd think you;d come out of the shelter of your vanilla existence every now and then. She likes _women _to hit her."

Emma's eyes widened, and she diverted her gaze to her boots. "I need to leave."

"Don't leave. Tell us what she did to you," Neal insisted. "It might alleviate my boredom for a couple minutes."

"Did she piss on you?" Archie asked. He shifted to his other foot and adjusted the fly of his khakis.

"No, she didn't _piss _on me."

"But you want her to piss on _you_, don't you, Archie?" Neal said.

"Em, no," Archie said. "That's sick." He adjusted his fly again.

"You're all hard just thinking about it," Neal noted. "She'll probably piss on you for a couple bucks. What do you say, Emma? Give her a call. Ask her if she'll piss on Archie. I'll spot him a twenty."

"Don't," Archie said, flushing from the collar of his mint green polo to the line of his immaculately styled curly, red hair.

Emma scowled. She didn't know if Regina pissed on people for money, and she didn't _want _to know. Talking about this cheapened her experiences with the darker woman. The blonde didn't like it. Regina treated her different from the rest of her customers. She'd already told Emma that. Part of her wanted to believe it.

"I don't think she does that kind of thing."

"Puh-lease. A chick like her will do anything for money," Lacey said.

"No. She's not like that." Why did the blonde feel the need to defend her? She did serve men and women for money. But it was on her terms. Wasn't it? "I've got to go."

Emma left, but she vowed she wouldn't go to see Regina again tonight, even though she had an appointment with the dark-haired woman in five hours and thirty-seven minutes. Emma could not allow herself to get any more attached.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Emma stood on Regina's stoop, one index finger on her door buzzer, the other aimed at her temple as a mock pistol barrel. What was the blonde doing here? She'd promised herself she wouldn't come.

The door opened to the annoyed scowl of a cranky redhead. "Regina!" Regina's mother turned and screamed into the house. "Another one of your _freaks _is here!"

This woman really knew how to make Emma's confidence wither away to nothing. Regina emerged from behind the door. She didn't say a word, but the look she gave Emma—like she was the vilest piece of shit on the planet—had the blonde's confidence boosted back in an instant. Regina opened the door wider and turned, stalking toward the sanctum, her full hips rocking side to side with each step.

Panting, Emma followed.

"Close the fucking door, Maynard! You're letting out the AC," Regina's mother yelled. How had that woman given birth to the luscious, sensual creature that was Regina?

Emma closed the door and followed Regina into the sanctum. Regina had slid the door closed, startling the blonde. When Emma turned to look at her, she locked it. Regina's eyes were as cold as arctic steel. Emma didn't know if she was actually pissed at her or if it was all an act. Its source didn't matter. Regina's glare made the blonde's panties soak through uncomfortably in her jeans.

Her gaze unwavering, Regina backed her into a corner. She slid her riding crop under the hem of Emma's T-shirt and lifted it a few inches. Regina's eyebrows rose, and she didn't have to tell the blonde what she wanted twice. Emma peeled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Regina lashed her across the belly, and Emma's entire body jerked. The tip of her crop disappeared into the waistband of the blonde's jeans. Regina slid it further down, along the entire length of Emma's pussy, and then pulled the crop free. Again she raised her eyebrows at the blonde, but said nothing.

Shuddering, Emma released her fly and pulled her skin tight jeans down her legs. Regina didn't strike her for obeying her. Just continued to stare at the blonde and wait. What did she want?

"Regina?"

She shoved a ball into Emma's mouth and fastened the gag around her head. Emma had told her last night that her didn't like to be gagged. When she lifted her hands to release the gag's buckle. Regina turned and strode away in that prowling cat walk she'd perfected. Emma lowered her hands, the gag still in place, and watched the darker woman move toward the table where her whips and paddles rested from least to most vicious in a neat line. Regina set the riding crop down, third in line, after a small paddle and a larger wooden one, and selected her fourth tool—three whips on a short handle. Regina glanced over her shoulder and gave the clothes still on the lower half of Emma's body a pointed look.

Did she want her naked? Would she hit Emma if she did what the other woman wanted?

Emma pulled off her boots and shucked her pants, kicking them aside. Wearing nothing but her socks, she waited. Regina smiled at her coldly and sashayed her way back in her direction. She turned Emma to face the wall. The blonde felt the cool leather of the three whips slide sensually over her naked back, buttocks, between her legs to tease her clit, her asshole, up her back again to her shoulders. Regina lashed her once, twice, between the shoulder blades. Sweet, sweet agony. Emma's womb stomach tightened in anticipation. Regina didn't give her more though. Something cold wrapped around Emma's neck and tightened just short of choking her. A collar? Was Regina really that determined to treat her like a fucking dog? The dark-haired woman leaned against Emma's back, the luscious globes of her breasts pressing into the blonde's flesh. Regina slid the tails of her whip up and down Emma's belly. Whenever the ends of the lashes brushed the blonde's clit, she tensed. Concentrating on sensation, Emma relaxed. She didn't even notice the cuffs attached to her collar until Regina had her left wrist immobilized in one.

Emma grabbed the collar's fastening with her free hand. She'd had enough of this. Regina had no right to-

The darker woman's whip cracked against her ass. Emma went still, relishing the pain. _Oh yes. _That's what she needed. Regina struck her again and again until the blonde went limp against the wall, her face pressed into the padding. That's when Regina secured Emma's free hand to the other cuff attached to her collar. Now that the dark-haired woman had both Emma's hands trapped and useless, she grabbed the blonde roughly by the collar and turned her to face her.

"You do not treat me with disregard," Regina growled.

Emma's brow furrowed with confusion. Disregard? What did the other woman mean?

"I am in control."  
Yeah, fine, she was in control. Was she going to hit Emma some more?  
Regina fastened a leash to the blonde's collar and tugged her out of the corner. Emma's first instinct was to fight. She struggled to repress that urge as Regina pulled her down to the floor on her knees. Emma stared venom at the other woman for treating her this way.

Regina stood over her, gazing down with confusion in her pretty brown eyes. "You really don't like this do you? To be treated like a dog?"  
Emma shook her head.

"Huh. I thought you were just putting on a tough girl act. It really is just the pain you want."  
_I tried to tell you that,_ Emma wanted to yell, but couldn't because Regina had gagged her.

"Do you want me to free you?"

Emma nodded.

"Too bad. You need to be taught a lesson."

_Why?_ The blonde tried to say. It came out as a muddled sound deep in her throat.

"You made me submit to you and then the minute you finished getting off, you discarded me. You wouldn't even come in my mouth."

The tears in Regina's eyes totally threw Emma for a loop. She hadn't discarded the darker woman. Emma couldn't even think of anything but her all day. Not even when she should have been worrying about Neal's injury and recovery. And the blonde had just assumed Regina wouldn't _want _Emma to come in her mouth. Emma had pulled back as a courtesy, not as a part of some stupid dominance game. Why was Regina twisting everything around?

"I hate you for making me feel like this," Regina said.

She shoved Emma down on her back.

"This needy, stupid, totally mixed up weakling is not me, Emma." She glared at the blonde. "You will come in my mouth this time. Do you understand?"

Emma was strangely glad Regina had gagged her at that point, because she would have laughed at the other woman's demands. Silly woman. Regina didn't have to restrain her for that. Emma nodded obediently to make her happy. Or herself happy, the blonde wasn't sure which.

Regina lowered her head and sucked Emma's clit into her mouth. The blonde's body jerked in response. One of Regina's fingers slipped inside of Emma. The dark-haired woman remembered their rhythm and used it relentlessly, as she sucked her and added another finger. Emma groaned against her gag, her hands tightening into fists in her restraints. This much pleasure couldn't be right. Emma closed her eyes and let the feelings consume her. The heat. The friction. Slick. Moist. Pulling at her. Pulling. The blonde's orgasm approached within minutes. Something about Regina dominating her and then admitting that the blonde made her weak pushed Emma to the edge of bliss quickly. Her body tightened with inevitable release, and Regina cracked her flail hard against her lower belly. Emma erupted in her mouth with a strangled cry, her muscles rigid as she let go of everything for a few moments of blissful surrender. Regina allowed the blonde's fluids to fill her mouth before she swallowed. Emma lay there, trembling in the aftermath, trying to catch her breath by sucking air through her nose. Regina lifted her head and stared at the blonde for a few minutes. "I have another lesson for you."  
If this lesson was anything like the first, Emma was more than ready to learn.

Regina went to her table and returned with a black cloth sack. She slipped it over Emma's head. The room was tinted black as the blonde stared through the gauzy material. She could see just fine, and she could breathe. Emma realized Regina couldn't see her face like this. Was that her purpose? So she didn't have to look at Emma?

"Stay," Regina said, before leaving Emma lying there on the cold floor, her leash lying loose beside her. The blonde tilted her head and watched Regina walk into the second room of her sanctum. She returned a moment later with a big, muscular man on a leash. He was hooded, but otherwise unrestrained.

"Kneel, loser," Regina growled at the man.

"Yes, Your Majesty." He dropped to his knees, bent over her boots, and rubbed his leather-encased face over her feet and ankles with feverish reverence.

He noticed Emma lying naked-with-socks on the floor and glanced up at his dominatrix in question.

"Don't look at me directly."

He averted his gaze.

"We're going to show this misbehaving slave the proper way to respect her mistress. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Regina ran his leash through a metal loop in the floor and pulled until his face was pressed against the ground. On his knees with his shoulders on the floor, and his ass sticking straight up in the air, Loser's balls and dick swung freely beneath him.

"Hold," Regina said and handed him his own leash. He held himself in that position while Regina went to retrieve the thick rectangular paddle from the table. She returned to Loser and stepped on the back of his neck with one boot.

"How many do you want?"  
"Five."

"Only five? What are you? A fucking pussy? Say it."

"I'm a pussy."

"How many do you want?"

"Six, six. Please, Your Majesty."

Regina drew her arm back and hit his ass with a resounding crack. Hes flesh distorted to the shape of the paddle then settled back into place, a bright red shade. He grunted in pain. The Evil Queen drew her arm back again and hit the guy's ass in the exact same spot. This time he cried out hoarsely. Emma stared up at Regina, watching her relish her power as she smacked her slave's ass a third time. A fourth. Loser, or whatever the hooded man's name was, whimpered in anguish, but did not call for mercy. And his cock had grown harder with each strike. Emma could feel herself reacting as well. Not from watching man's pain. From seeing the absolute joy on Regina's face as she gave this man exactly what he wanted. Loser didn't deserve her attention. And neither did Emma.

After the sixth strike, Regina removed her foot from the back of Loser's head and rubbed his red ass with one hand. "Do you want more?"

"Plug me, Your Majesty. Please. Please."

"I don't think you screamed loud enough to be plugged."  
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." He gasped, literally in tears. "I'll do better. Three more, please."

Regina struck him three times in succession, and if she didn't think he screamed loud enough this time, she was in need of a hearing aid. "Good boy," she crooned. "Release."

He let go of his leash and belly-crawled to her feet. "May I?" he whispered. "May I?"

"You may."

Again he rubbed his face against her boots like an affectionate cat, crooning softly to her feet as she stood there and allowed it.

"Do you still want the plug?" Regina asked.

He started trembling uncontrollably and rubbed his face over her boots. "Y-yes, Your Majesty. T-thank you."

Regina nudged him aside and disappeared into the room she'd retrieved Loser from earlier. Emma wanted to ask the guy what kind of plug, but she was still gagged. Loser was avoiding looking at her anyway. It wasn't as if Emma would recognize him if she met him on the street. His face was completely obscured by the hood. Emma's by the black bag.

Regina stalked back into the room, her heels clicking on the cement floor. "Assume the position."

On his knees again, Loser planted his face on the floor, grabbed his ass cheeks I both hands and pulled them apart. Regina took something thick, black, and glistening and inserted it into the guy's anus. Emma flinched when Regina lifted one foot, pressed it against the end of the plug, and pushed it deep into the guy's ass with a solid kick. Loser shuddered and then grabbed his dick in both hands, stroking himself in earnest. Regina smacked his ass with the paddle again.

"No. No touching yourself until you beg for mercy."

He released his cock, breathing hard as he struggled to contain his excitement. Regina paddled him relentlessly now. Not as hard as before, but without pause. Hitting him so the vibration would travel through that butt plug he enjoyed. Whimpering, crying, writhing on the floor, Loser found some glorious place where pain became pleasure. After several minutes, he sputtered, "Mercy, Your Majesty. Mercy."

Though she was obviously worked up by her ministrations, Regina's arm halted in mid-swing. She relaxed her stance. "You may proceed."  
Loser grabbed his cock and started jacking-off excitedly.

"If you get that on my floor, I'm going to make you lick it up," Regina warned him.

When he sputtered with release a few seconds later, she was a woman of her word. She unzipped the mouth of his hood and forced him to lick his own cum off the floor—except she wasn't actually forcing him. He was doing it quite willingly, eager to please his mistress. Once he'd cleaned the floor to her satisfaction, she allowed him to kiss her boots. Emma couldn't believe making out with some chick's boots could excite a man so much, but Loser was undoubtedly enjoying his privilege. He sucked them with his open mouth, his tongue rolling over their shiny black surfaces. He made delighted sounds in the back of his throat the entire time.

"Go clean up now," Regina said. And take your butt plug with you."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for your mercy."

Loser crawled into the second room.

"Don't come out of there until I tell you to."  
"Yes, Your Majesty."

Regina leaned over Emma and pulled the cloth from her face.

"Do you get it now?" Regina asked.

Emma had gotten it from the beginning, but she wasn't like most masochists. She didn't need the little show to accept her punishment. She knew she deserved it whether Regina thought she did or not.

Emma rolled onto her back, her wetness glistening on her thighs.

Regina sucked a breath through her teeth when she saw the evidence of the blonde's excitement. "Damn it, Emma. Why are you still wet? Did you like watching me make a grown man cry?"

Emma nodded vigorously. Regina knelt over her and slid the crotch of her panties to one side. Before Emma could even comprehend what the other woman was about to do, her hot pussy lined up perfectly to the blonde's own. "Why do I want you so much? Tel me why. I don't get it. I just don't get it."

Regina rubbed against Emma until she came, the dark-haired woman's body going rigid as she let go. She kissed Emma's eyelids and puled the cloth over her face again. Regina regained her footing and left the blonde there, unfulfilled, bound, gagged, and flustered. She showed Loser to the door, accepting his tribute, and showed another man into the sanctum. If she thought Emma was just going to lie there on the floor all night and watch her beat men until they begged for her mercy, the darker woman had another thing coming. At least that's what the blonde was thinking before she watched the second guy beg for mercy after two lashes of Regina's bullwhip to the back. God, the look on her face when they submitted to her was the most beautiful thing Emma had ever seen. Regina was all powerful—in total control.

A goddess. A demon. An angel.

Her submissives never saw that look. They were too busy staring at the floor or had their eyes squeezed shut tightly, but Emma saw it. When the second gut left, Regina straddled Emma's hips again and fucked the blonde until her next client arrived.

"As punishment for making me crazy, I'm going to keep you around to entertain me between sessions for the rest of the night," Regina said.

Was this another lesson? Fuckin' A—Regina was the best teacher Emma had ever had.

Regina leaned over her and whispered into her ear. "I usually have to get myself off in the back room if I get too worked up, but this is a lot more fun."  
For her, maybe. Emma's entire body protested as the other woman moved away again. Okay, the blonde had to admit it. She was thoroughly enjoying this for some twisted reason. Not watching the guys being submissive to her sweet demon in leather, but watching Regina get off on it.

Too bad the blonde would never be able to give the other woman the pleasure of _her _submission.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Regina almost fell off the stage when she recognized Emma sitting at a nearby table in a baseball cap and sunglasses. The blonde should have known better than to come here. The club's bouncers had long memories and short tempers.

Regina hopped off the stage and slid onto Emma's lap. "What are yo doing here?" she asked, doing her typical lap dance routine to keep the bouncers from getting suspicious.

"We're leaving early in the morning," Emma said. "Going back to LA. I wanted to say goodbye."

Regina turned around, rubbing her ass against the blonde's crotch. "Will I get to see you again?"

"I'm sure I'll turn up every now and then. Do you do this kind of thing a lot?"

"What kind of thing?"

"This lap dance stuff."

"It's part of my job, dear."  
"Yeah, well..."

"You jealous?" Regina teased, turning to face Emma again. The darker woman didn't know how the blonde could possibly be jealous of anything she did after Emma had survived watching her punish clients for over two hours and then still managed to fuck Regina properly after they'd all gone home. Regina had never seen a woman come so hard as the other woman had come last night.

Emma ducked her head. "Nah."

"I'll be finished in a few minutes. Meet me in the alley, and I'll give you a proper good-bye."

"This isn't so bad as far as good-byes go." She chanced a glance at Regina, grinning crookedly.

The dark-haired woman leaned forward to give Emma a good view of her breasts and traced the edge of the blonde's ear with her fingertips. "If this is enough of a good-bye for you, then-"

"I'll meet you in the alley."  
Regina grinned at her and returned to the stage, cracking her whip at some pasty-faced businessman who was drooling all over himself and fluttering a twenty-dollar bill in her direction. The guy shuddered with a mixture of fear and excitement as the whip stirred his hair, but didn't touch his skin. Regina should give him her card. Invite him to her sanctum of pain. Talk him into thinking he could take thirty minutes and break him in two. Easy money. She didn't offer her services to him though. She wasn't sure why she hesitated.

She glanced at Emma as she accepted the businessman's cash between her breasts, but Emma had already left. When Regina's set ended, she hurried to the dressing room and slid a skirt on over her costume. It didn't tone down her leather bustier and thigh-high boots much, but at least her ass was covered.

"Mel, I'm going on a break for about twenty minutes," she called to one of the blonde twins who'd just come off stage. "Cover for me, 'kay?"

"No problem, Gina."  
Regina hurried out the back door to find Emma leaning against her motorcycle with her arms crossed over her breasts. Regina lifted the blonde's visor when she stopped before her.

"I'm glad you came to say good-bye," the darker woman whispered.

"Do you want to go for a ride?"  
Regina glanced back at the building, fidgeting. She couldn't take more than a twenty-minute break this time of night, but she didn't want to miss her chance to be with Emma. What if she never saw the blonde again? "I don't think I can be gone for long."  
"We can just ride around for a while."  
"I'd rather kiss you for a while," Regina said, tilting her head to the side so she could kiss Emma inside her helmet.

"Kissing will be involved."

"Yeah?"  
"Among other things."  
Regina liked the sound of that. She kissed Emma again and stepped away so the blonde could mount the bike. The Harley roared to life, and Emma extended a hand to help the other woman climb on behind her. Regina molded herself to the blonde's back, loving the scent of her body mixed with the smell of leather. Emma drove to a secluded area far outside of town, turned off the bike, and shifted it back onto its kickstand. George was going to skin Regina alive for taking off like this. She should already be back at work by now.

She'd give herself the pleasure of Emma's company for a minute more. Just a minute. Regina unzipped the blonde's jacket, her hands sliding over the T-shirt beneath the worn leather. She couldn't get enough of Emma's toned little body. She was so stupid about this chick. Dammit. Why did Emma make her feel so out of control? And why did Regina like it? Control had always been her forte.

Emma removed her helmet and stuck it on the end of her handlebars.

Looking up at the sky, the blonde said, "You can see the stars out here away from the city lights."  
Regina tilted her head back and took in the beauty of the speckled sky. "I never take the time to look at the stars. I'm usually working." She snuggled closer to Emma. She hoped George didn't fire her for leaving. She could tell him she had an emergency. Knowing Emma was leaving Vegas counted as an emergency, didn't it? Her arms tightened around the blonde. Regina had to admit she didn't want Emma to go.

"Come here," Emma murmured, sliding an arm around the darker woman's waist to coax her to move around the blonde's body.

Regina slid so they faced each other, her back to the handlebars and her legs straddling Emma's. Up on the main road, a car passed, but no one seemed to know their little dirt road existed.

"You said you wanted to drive out to the desert to have an orgy on my bike." Emma's soft voice sent ripples of delight through Regina's body. "If you still want-"

Regina kissed her, thrusting her tongue into the blonde's mouth. Emma remembered that offhand comment? The blonde groaned, her hand gripping Regina's bare thighs beneath her skirt. Regina tugged Emma's T-shirt up and ran her hands over the smooth, warm flesh of the blonde's belly. Why did this woman drive her so crazy? No other woman ever had. Not like this Regina's fingers moved to the other woman's fly. She stroked Emma's slit with two fingers until she was soaking wet.

Emma tugged her mouth from the darker woman. "We don't have to rush," she murmured.

"Yes, we do. I want you."

Regina slid her thong to one side and shifted her hips closer to the blonde's on the bike's seat.

"Careful," Emma said, "the engine's still hot."

"I'll show you what's hot." Regina rose up, directed her cunt over top of Emma's own, and sank back down, rubbing against the blonde deliciously. Regina's head fell back in wonder. Her breath released in a shuddering gasp.

"That is hot," Emma murmured.

"It's always hot for you." Regina found good footholds, having no idea what part of the bike she was using for leverage and not much caring. Rocking back and forth against Emma, she rocked her hips in a slow, deliberate motion, grinding their clits together perfectly. Emma held her to support her motions, the blonde's forearms running along her sides and back palms at her shoulder blades, fingers pressing into her skin. Her lips gently caressed Regina's throat and chest.

Why did the blonde's tenderness drive her insane with need? "Emma."

Emma rocked with her, coaxing Regina into that perfect Rhythm.

The blonde seemed to know her body better than she did. Emma's blonde curls feathered over the sensitive flesh of Regina's nipple as the blonde nudged her bodice down. Regina's back arched, her breast offered willingly to the other woman's attention. Emma sucked her nipple into her mouth, rubbing the tender bud with the flat of her tongue. The rhythm of the blonde's mouth matched the rhythm of their joining. Regina felt the tug at her breast through her womb, her pussy, her clit.

"Oh, Emma. Oh."

Regina's breath caught as her body spiraled toward orgasm. She increased the tempo of their joining, rocking back and forth against Emma, faster and faster. Seeking release.

Wanting it.

Needing it.

_Now, Emma. Make me come._

But Emma would have none of it. Her elbows clamped into Regina's sides, and the blonde slowed the other woman's motions into their perfect rhythm.

Emma released Regina's nipple from her mouth. "Don't rush, baby. Savor it. It might be a while before I see you again."  
So she planned to see Regina again? Regina usually hated making plans for the future. Things never seemed to work out the way she intended, but as unusual as it was for her, she _wanted _to see the blonde again. The sooner, the better.

Emma used her chin to brush the other cup of Regina's bustier down and tugged her neglected nipple into her mouth. Again, the blonde sucked with the same rhythm of their joining.

"Oh, Emma. Please."

Emma shifted slightly, changing the angle of their combined flesh

Regina gasped, her head falling back in wonder. "Feels so good."  
Emma murmured in agreement around her nipple. The blonde would probably like Regina to hurt her, but she didn't want to. She wanted to be tender with Emma, the way the other woman was always tender with her. Well, until the blonde got overexcited and fucked her hard. Regina wondered if she could get off without pain.

Emma's tempo increased at her breast. Regina met it, grinding down as the blonde rotated her hips. Emma pulled away from her breast, gasping in delight. "Regina. Hurt me."

"Not this time, Emma."

It was too dark to see the blonde's expression. Was she disappointed?  
Emma kissed her. Their bodies moved together faster. Faster. Regina gasped into her lover's mouth. Ground against her. Seeking release. Seeking.

Emma separated their mouths and rested her forehead against Regina's jaw. "You feel so good, baby."  
"Can you come if we're gentle like this?"  
"It will take a while," the blonde murmured.

"I've got all the ten minutes in the world. I' so gonna get fired for taking a fuck break in the middle of my shift."

Emma chuckled. "If you get fired, I'll hire you as my personal dominatrix. I'll go broke in a matter of days, but-"

"I'll give you a frequent flyer discount."  
Emma laughed, a deep, full belly laugh, that warmed Regina's insides. Why did that laugh mean so much to her? It made no sense. She cherished it. More than any of the other things she loved about this woman, her laugh meant the most to Regina.

Their bodies continued to come together, moving in perfect synch. Regina's thighs trembled in exhaustion.

"You getting tired?"

"A little," the darker woman admitted.

Emma shifted back on the seat, pulling Regina with her. "Lie back for a while."

Regina leaned back against the tank, the gas cap between her shoulder blades, the handlebars hitting her in the back of the head. Not the most comfortable position, but Emma took over the motion, rocking forward to possess Regina's body. The dark-haired woman arched her back to get more comfortable. Emma gasped brokenly.

"God, baby, I'm going to miss you," the blonde murmured.

"Los Angeles isn't that far away. Come visit me when you have a spare evening."  
"Can I?"

"I want you to. I'm going to miss you too."  
Emma slid her arms under Regina's back and lifted her so the blonde could kiss her passionately. Emma's breath caught. Their bodies moved together faster. Regina's pleasure built. Their breaths mingled in excited hitches. Emma moaned, rubbing her open mouth over Regina's throat. Regina cried out. They strained against each other as they flew to nirvana together. The stars in Regina's eyes had nothing to do with those in the sky above.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Emma opened her apartment door and tossed her duffel bag on the floor. She set her bass guitar down gently beside it. " Hi, honey, I'm home." Her voice echoed through the sparsely furnished one-bedroom apartment. She hung her keys on their hook and closed the door.

"Brroowww rrrown rrown rrrown rown." Lucy, a black tuxedo cat with white paws and a large, white inverted triangle under her chin, trotted in Emma's direction and wrapped her sleek body around the blonde's boot. Round and round her ankle she went, still meow-purring in her usual fashion.

Emma lifted her and snuggled her against her chest, Lucy's front paws resting on the blonde's shoulder. Her soft tail flicked against Emma's arm repeatedly.

"Did you miss me?"

Lucy rubbed her face against her jaw and batted at Emma's small hoop earring with one paw.

"I missed you too. Owen been feeding you properly?"

"Brrroowww rrrowwwn." Emma carried her toward the kitchen, and Lucy switched from her unusual meow to purr in earnest.

Emma opened a cabinet and found the cat food stash had dwindled significantly in her absence, so Owen had been feeding Lucy regularly. And from the lack of bad odor in the room, he'd also been cleaning her litter box like he was supposed to. A good, trustworthy kid. Emma would give him a big bonus for taking care of her girl in her extended absence.

Emma set Lucy on the kitchen counter and pulled out several cans of food, reading the contents to her furry companion as she set them one at a time in a row in front of the cat.

"So what will it be?"  
Lucy put a definitive paw on the top of one can.

"Salmon?"

"Brrrooowww rrrowwwn."  
"All right. Fish breath it is. But if you think I'm going to let you lick my chin later, you're in for a surprise."  
While the blonde opened the can, Lucy jumped off the counter and rubbed round and round Emma's ankle again. She set Lucy's saucer of food on the floor, gave her a good scratch behind one ear, and went to unpack.

Most of the clothes in her bag were dirty. Emma sorted them into piles to take to the laundry room in the basement later. Laundry wasn't her favorite chore, but unlike the rest of her band mates, she wasn't a slob. She just pretended to be messy in order to fit in better. She also pretended that she couldn't cook and that she didn't clean. None of them knew that she had a cat or that she talked to said cat as if she were a person. Emma was very careful to disguise herself around the band. To be who they expected her to be, not who she really was.

Emma removed her most treasured possession from the deep recesses of her bag and set it on the two pedestals on the center shelf of her bookcase. She ran one finger over the drumstick with a slight smile on her thin, pink lips. This slender piece of wood had changed her entire life, and the woman who had given it to her, completely by chance nine years before, had no idea the impact she'd had on a abused and neglected kid headed down a path of self-destruction. Emma had no doubt that Lacey French had saved her life. In a different way than she'd saved Neal's life, but no less important in the outcome. Emma turned on the stereo and sank into the sofa that was covered with a sheet to hide the rips and stains in the upholstery. She wasn't sure why she didn't get new furniture. It wasn't as if she couldn't afford it, but this was enough for her. She didn't need much—didn't want much. An image of Regina's lovely face, her ruby red lips curled in a sexy smile, settled in the blonde's thoughts.

Lucy joined her on the sofa and helped herself to Emma's lap while she licked her paws and rubbed them over her face.

"I met a girl."  
Lucy paused and stared at her with amber eyes.

Emma chuckled. "What's that look for?" Sometimes she thought that cat understood what she was saying. "Don't worry. I won't let myself get too attached to her." Though she was considering calling Regina right now. The dark-haired woman was probably asleep. Emma shouldn't bother her. Maybe she should text the other woman. Regina had sent her a picture of her left nipple earlier that day and typed that she wished the blonde's tongue was on it at that moment. Oh yes. She had Emma's full attention, even without the sexy little text messages. "I think I'll head to the gym," she told her cat. "Get in a good workout. Box a few rounds."

"Browww wwowwn." The cat looked at her morosely.

"All right, I'll work out here instead." She pulled of her shirt, so she only wore her gray sports bra, and made her way to her tiny bedroom. She'd installed a bar in the doorway and used it now to do pull-ups.

After the blonde had completed a few dozen reps, Lucy lay down on the floor and batted at Emma's toes every time they came in reach. Emma slid her feet between the bar and the upper door sill and switched to doing inverted sit-ups. Lucy wiggled her butt, leaped into the air, and attacked the blonde's head repeatedly. After one too many claws to the scalp, she caught the cat in midair and lifted her to look her in the eye upside down. "Will you knock it off?"

Lucy batted her nose with one paw, careful to keep her claws concealed. "You've been bored, haven't you? I need to get you a friend. I've been on the road too much lately."  
"Browww wwowwn."  
She grabbed Emma's earring with one claw and urged her forward so she could rub her mouth over the blonde's jaw.

"Ugh. Fish breath."  
Emma set her down, grabbed the bar, and released her feet before lowering herself to the floor.

"Let's jam." She knew what Lucy was after. Her cat loved bass guitar music. For her one feline audience, Emma played Sinners' entire set list, not the way the original bassist, Millie Center, had written it, but the way Emma felt it should be played. She'd never let the band know she'd rewritten every bass line. They wouldn't appreciate that kind of creativity. While she played, Lucy watched her, tail flicking earnestly to the beat. Eventually, the neighbor in the apartment below started banging on the ceiling. Emma turned off the amp and put her guitar back in its case. Her cell phone beeped. Another text from Regina. Another picture. Of her pussy. _I'm imagining your fingers inside this, _she'd typed. Damn. Was the woman trying to kill her?


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: I am sooooo sorry it's been so long since i've updated. I recently started my first real job and am also in the process of starting college. This is kind of a filler chapter, so i'm sorry for that too. But worry not, because the plot will be back in the next chapter and so will Regina. Thank you all so much for your continuous patience and your wonderful reviews!**

Chapter 13

Emma shifted the case holding her bass guitar to her left hand ans rang the doorbell. After a moment, Killian opened his front door and beckoned Emma inside. "Lacey isn't here yet. She's on her way."  
"Thanks for inviting me," Emma said. She'd been holed up in her apartment for almost three weeks waiting for Neal to get better so they could go back on tour. When Killian invited her to help work on the new album, Emma had almost pissed herself with excitement.

"Why are you thanking me?" Killian said. "I'm putting your ass to work."  
Which suited Emma just fine. This was only the second time Emma had been inside Killian's condo. The first had been Killian's housewarming party, probably the wildest in the history of man. Emma didn't remember most of the evening. She'd passed out on the roofing patio in nothing but a pair of men's blue satin boxers, and Lacey had drawn flowers all over her back with an edible marker. Emma didn't recollect where she'd gotten those boxers.

Killian's place was huge and extravagant. Maybe it was time for Emma to buy a place of her own. Her little apartment didn't get much use, but Lucy would probably like a balcony she could sun herself on. It just seemed a waste to spend all that money on something so rarely used. Normally, Emma was on the road far more often than she was at home, but since Neal was out of commission until his finger mobility improved, they'd had to cancel a bunch of tour dates.

Emma followed Killian through the huge, open living room with its twenty-foot ceiling and red, white, and black decor. The second floor of the condo had a master bedroom and an open loft equipped with everything from a wet bar to a pool table. On the first floor, there were two additional bedrooms. One served as a guest room, but the other had been converted to a recording studio. They entered the studio, and Emma set her bass behind the black leather sofa. She took her jacket off, tossed it on a chair, and went to inspect the amps and other equipment.

"Wanna beer?" Killian asked.

"Yeah."  
Killian opened a mini fridge in the corner, pulled out a couple cans, and tossed on to Emma. While Emma sipped her beer, she fiddled with a soundboard. She couldn't guess what all the knobs and sliders and switches did. "Do you actually know how to uses this thing?" she asked Killian.

"No fucking clue." He laughed. "I think Lacey might. I dunno."

The doorbell rang.

"That's probably Lacey now." Killian left to answer the door.

Suddenly nervous, Emma perched herself on the edge of the sofa. Lacey would give Emma shit for being there. For intruding in her creative process and for trying to take her best friend Millie's place. Lacey and Millie had composed Sinners' last three albums together. As a band, they were driving into new territory, and Lacey was sure to resent Emma for not knowing what the fuck she was doing. Emma wanted to learn—wanted to help and to share her ideas—but feared she'd just get in the way and somehow make Sinners less.

Lacey entered the studio, examined Killian's equipment setup, and then sat in the chair across from Emma. "Hey, princess. Been keeping busy?"

Emma rubbed her earlobe, fiddling with the earring there. "No. I'm ready to get back on the road." Or make a run to Vegas to see Regina. So far she'd been able to resist the darker woman's pull and intensify her misery, but Emma knew she wouldn't hold out much longer.

"Yeah, no kidding. I hope Neal gets better soon."  
"He won't get better until he starts trying. Lazing around by his parents' pool all day isn't helping." Killian scowled. "I guess I'll have to go straighten him out."  
Emma hoped Killian wasn't too hard on Neal. She knew Killian meant well, but he wasn't too easy on a person's feelings.

"Let's get busy," Killian said.

"This should be cool." Eagerness getting the better of her, Emma sat up straighter so she could see all the scrapes of music on the coffee table. Maybe if she stayed quiet and tried not to interfere with Lacey's genius, they wouldn't make her leave.

Lacey rifled through the stack of guitar music she'd brought with her. Stuff August had composed while fucking Ruby. Emma wasn't sure how anyone could think well enough to write music while having sex, but it seemed to work for their lead guitarist.

Lacey arranged bits of guitar music and sheets of paper that contained Killian's lyrics. Emma's heart rate accelerated. Few things excited her. The talent of this band was at the very top. A set of sexy red lips smiled at her in her mind's eye. Well, and Regina but she excited her in an entirely different way.

Lacey rearranged the sections several times and then nodded. "Okay, I've got the guitar music worked out. Now we need the bass line." She glanced at Emma. "Did you bring your guitar?"  
Emma retrieved her bass from its case and looped the strap over her shoulder. Lacey tapped a rhythm on the table with two pairs of drumsticks. "Match it."  
Emma more than heard the beat, she felt it. She'd listened to Sinners' songs so many times that she instinctively knew what the bass line should sound like. It echoed in her mind. Complimented the beat. Filled it. Enriched it.

She plugged her bass into a small practice amp and played the series of notes running through her head.

Lacey smiled. "Not bad."

That was almost a compliment. Emma couldn't help but grin. She noticed Killian watching her with an introspective look on his face.

Lacey glanced at Killian. "You ready to sing?"  
"I'm ready." Killian cleared his throat.

Lacey related her vision of how the lyrics should sound, and Killian tried to copy her. It took several tries to figure out that Lacey should sing it, and Killian should do his typical rumbling screams in accompaniment. Emma's heart thundered as she listened to the unique duet. That was it. That was the sound that would get them to the next level in their music. To grow. _Together. _Emma couldn't believe she was finally a part of this. When they stopped singing, Killian and Lacey stared at each other in surprise. They knew it too. Emma's only regret was that August and Neal weren't there to share the moment.

"That was awesome," Emma said. "Holy shit. Do it again."

When Lacey broached the possibility of using an electric violin in some songs, Killian was less accommodating to her vision.

_Electric violin? _Did they really need another stringed instrument? Something like a piano would be better, but Emma was too intimidated to say it. Lacey obviously knew what she was doing. Emma needed to curtail her eagerness and let the woman work.

"Just try it," Lacey said to Killian. "I'll be trying something different. You should too."  
Emma leaned forward. She couldn't help it. She wanted to participate. "Do I get to try something different?"

"No," Lacey said.

Emma's hopes plummeted.

"Well, maybe," Lacey amended. "You should add more embellishments to the bass lines to compliment August. You're a better bassist than Millie was. I think you need to push your skill level on the new album. You must be bored as fuck playing that repetitive shit Millie composed before you signed on."

_Better bassist than Millie was. _Lacey recognized that? She was probably just jerking Emma around, but hope insisted on floating back to the surface. Emma grinned until her cheeks hurt and glanced from Lacey to Killian and back to Lacey. "Okay."  
"I'm going to call Neal," Killian said unexpectedly. "He needs to be here a lot more that I do. Lyrics last." Killian climbed to his feet. "Carry on. I'll be right back."  
"Hey, I can't wait around all day. I've got shit to do," Lacey said.

Killian left the room.

"Like what?" Emma asked.

"None of your business," she said. "Go get me a beer."

She didn't have to be such an ass about it. And Emma was _not_ going to get her a beer.

Lacey stared her down for a few moments and then reached for another set of music. "Okay, princess. I've got another beat for you. Match it."  
She listened to Lacey's tapping on the table, and like before a complimentary bass line sounded in her head. She started playing before Lacey had completed her progression.

"How do you do that?" Lacey asked. "have you been writing music behind our backs?"  
Emma shook her head. "I don't know. I hear your beat, and I just know what goes there. I think because we've been playing together for a couple years now."

"I guess it has been that long, hasn't it?" Lacey looked nostalgically sad. "Here's the next one."  
They continued that way for a while. Lacey producing a beat. Emma matching it with bass lines. Lacey scribbling down the notes Emma played. Killian still hadn't returned.

"I wonder where the fuck Killian went."  
Emma shrugged.

Lacey left the room. Emma scanned the score sheets on the table until Lacey returned a few minutes later. "he's going somewhere with Tina."

"Something wrong?"  
"She looked upset, but what's new? Drama follows her like a little lost puppy. But Killian loves her, so what can we do?"

"We can keep writing while he's gone."  
Lacey considered her for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. What do you think about the electric violin idea?" Lacey asked. "Brilliant, huh?"

Emma lowered her eyes. She knew Lacey just wanted affirmation, but she still didn't see the point of adding yet another stringed instrument to a band that already had three of them. "Maybe a piano instead," she said quietly.

Lacey stuck her finger in her ear and wriggled it around. "I swear I need a hearing aid. Too much drumming, I guess. What did you say?"

"I said, maybe we could do a song with some piano music."

"Piano?" Lacey sat there for a moment. "Well, that's a swell idea, princess, but Killian doesn't play piano, and I can't play while I'm drumming."

"I play." The moment it was out of her mouth, she wished she could take it back. She'd given up on piano over a decade ago when her foster mother had died. That had been the thing they had always done together, and she never felt right playing without her.

"You do?" Lacey said, shifting forward in her seat. She had that thinking look on her face, and Killian wasn't there to talk her down.

"No, I-"

"You've been holding out on us? Are you any good?"

She was, but she sure didn't want Lacey to know it. "No, I suck. Forget I mentioned it."  
Lacey refused to be deterred, and after much berating, pleading, and bullying, got Emma to play something on the keyboard. It wasn't a piano technically. At least that's what Emma told herself as her fingers moved over the flimsy keys.

"Well, there you go," Lacey said. "You get to try something different."

"I'm not really comfortable playing the piano."  
"Why not? You rock at it?"

Emma lowered her eyes. "My mother-"

"Don't have one of those, so can't relate, sorry. Can you play a guitar riff on the piano?"

Emma shrugged. "I guess."  
Lacey had piano music embedded into a song in a matter of minutes.

"How do you do that?" Emma asked.

"Do what?"  
"Put all that together so quickly."  
Lacey shrugged. "Don't know. The layers just mesh in my head. Where the hell did Killian go? I have this thing I need to go to."  
"What kind of thing?"

"Some program to keep kids off the street. I was hoping Killian would come with. August used to go and give the kids guitar lessons. They loved that shit, but he's MIA—probably lost between Ruby's thighs. So I figured Killian could take his place. He's great with kids, believe it or not."  
Emma didn't find that hard to believe at all. Killian kind of took a father figure role with everyone around him. Emma included.

"You wanna go?" Lacey asked.

Emma's heart thudded. "Me?"  
"Yeah, why not? The kids probably won't have any idea who the fuck you are, but we can still have fun with them."

"I'm not good with kids."  
"It probably would be a pain in the ass to have to look up to eight year olds all the time."  
And they were back to making fun of Emma's height. "Yeah, it does put a kink in my neck."  
Lacey laughed and pounded her on the back enthusiastically. "So you're coming with right? I don't want to go by myself, and you're the only one here."

Emma was surprised she asked, even if it was because no one else was available to coerce. "Yeah, fine. Whatever. I've got nothing better to do."

"Awesome. You'll look real special in the purple dinosaur costume."  
"What?"

Thank God for small favors; there was no dinosaur costume. Emma had a great time showing underprivileged kids how to thumb a bass groove, but she had even more fun watching Lacey, the human jungle gym, make a total and complete ass of herself for their amusement. When Lacey finally got around to her reason for being there, she gifted each kid with a set of drumsticks. Emma considered telling Lacey about the drumstick she had treasured for the past ten years. How Lacey had changed her life without even knowing it. Emma just couldn't find the words. Her one-sided connection with Lacey was too personal. Too stupid. Embarrassing. So she accompanied Lacey's obnoxious table drumming with an improvised bass line instead.

To keep time with Lacey's beat, the kids drummed each other more than solid surfaces, but everyone was laughing and having a good time. Even Emma.

Their hour with the kids flew by. Lacey had more energy than all twenty kids put together. On their way out the door, Lacey pounded Emma on the shoulder. "Let's grab a beer or two. What do you say?"  
Emma smiled. Was she finally making that elusive connection with Lacey? "Yeah. Sounds great."  
Two beers turned into ten or twelve. Emma lost count. Being a quiet drunk, Emma stared into her magically refilling mug while Lacey chattered enough for five people with everyone in shouting distance. She kept herself and half the bar entertained. Emma wasn't sure that Lacey was even aware of her presence. She wondered what Regina was up to. Three weeks was long enough to let her pain fester. Maybe she'd drop in on her the next day. Assuming she didn't die of alcohol poisoning or asphyxiate on her own vomit in the night.

"You drunk, yet?" Lacey asked near midnight.

Emma closed one eye to get rid of the three or four extra Laceys in her line of sight. "Define drunk."

"Wanna go get a tattoo with me?"

Emma nodded.

"Let me pick it out. I promise it will be wicked awesome."

Emma shrugged.

"Then you're drunk enough."

Apparently, Emma was also drunk enough to get her nipple pierced, which hurt less than expected. And too drunk to stay conscious through the tattooing, despite the evil grin Lacey sported as she talked to the tattoo artist who was preparing the skin on the top of Emma's foot for Lacey's idea of a "wicked awesome" design.


End file.
